


MCYT Harry Potter AU (because why not?)

by Agathia



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Magic, Friendship, Gen, HP cast saving the world while the MCYT are just vibing, I haven’t read Harry Potter in three years, No Romance, Not Beta Read, On Hiatus, Self-Indulgent, Slice of Life, might be OOC?, no longer self-indulgent so I wont be writing no more, so this might be a bad idea
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:15:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 47,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26531983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Agathia/pseuds/Agathia
Summary: A Harry Potter AU for our favourite blocky men. Mostly short snippets and oneshots of their school life.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & Dave | Technoblade, Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit
Comments: 402
Kudos: 1475





	1. Oh Look, Sorting!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorting! (But not just about anybody’s...)

“Potter, Harry!” 

Silence filled the hall as the name was called out. In anticipation, everybody held their breath, waiting to see which house the Boy Who Lived would be in. All eyes were on him as he walked up to the sorting hat. The boy, merely 11 years of age, the only indication of anything special about him was a lightning scar on his forehead.

From the Slytherin table, Dream narrowed his eyes at the poor boy. From his body language alone, it was obviously clear how uncomfortable he was. Dream couldn’t blame him. Despite being so young, expectations were high, so many people were placing their trust in him. 

Having so much to live up to. Dream, of all people, would understand how suffocating that felt.

“Wanna bet on what house he’s getting into?” Beside him, Techno whispered. Dream turned over to his housemate, and raised an eyebrow.

“I mean…” he shrugged, “It has to be Gryffindor, right?”

“You think so?” 

“It’s so obvious that it’s not even funny”

“...Alright,” It seemed that even Techno, who usually loved debating back at him, could argue this time, “Would be great if he got into Slytherin though, maybe it could even repair our bottom-of-the-barrel of a reputation.”

“Yeah, that does sound appealing,” Dream sighed, looking around. Hushed whispers arisen from the crowd, and he piqued his ears up to try and understand them. Nothing but meandering gossips, from what he could gather. 

“Oh, come on. Hurry up!” He caught a voice yelling from the Ravenclaw table. Turning around to see, Dream spotted the familiar pouting face of his friend, Sapnap. Seemingly, he was frustrated at how long it was taking, and if Dream had guessed why…

“What, you want to lose this bet even faster?” Of course. There was no need to even look, he could recognize that voice anywhere. It was his other friend, George, who had yelled over from his place at the Hufflepuff table. As usual, the two were going at it again with the bets. If Dream remembered correctly, George was winning the last time he checked. 

From his own table, Sapnap stood up and opened his mouth, ready to reply. But before he could do anything, he was very loudly interrupted.

“GRYFFINDOR!” The hat boomed, silencing anybody speaking at the time. But the quietness only lasted for a second before said house exploded in cheer. Gryffindor students jumped out of their seat, waving Potter over, slapping him on his shoulders, and acting like they had known him for years. Most frustrating was their shocked expression, like they could never have predicted this outcome to happen.

Looking back at his own house, Dream was met with glares and indifference. Only some were particularly thrilled at the result, and even less seemed surprised. Beside him, Techno shrugged and whispered a very monotone, “Call it.”

“Man,” Dream groaned. Already, their reputation was in shambles for being the house of dark arts, and this wasn’t at all helping, “It’s gonna get worse, isn’t it?”

“Really, is  _ that _ what you’re taking out of this?” Techno rolled his eyes. When he was met with a blank expression, the pink-haired boy huffed in annoyance, “We’re never gonna hear the end of this from Tommy!”

“...Oh no,” His eyes widened, Dream jolted as the sudden realization came to him, “ _Oh_ _no_ , he’s never gonna shut up about it.”

“Not in a hundred years.”

Already, Dream could hear the familiar “SUCK IT BITCH BOY” from the still-celebrating Gryffindor table. He groaned, massaging his forehead in preparation for the coming headaches. Noticing that, Techno patted him sympathetically on the shoulder, “You and me both. This is horrible.”

“Yeah,” said Dream, taking a long suffering sigh, “Yeah, it really is.”

\----------------------------

Sitting at the Gryffindor table, Tommy was in the middle of devouring a mount of chicken wings when he suddenly had to stop and sneezed. 

“Tubbo, that’s your fault,” He said automatically, before realizing that Tubbo, being a Ravenclaw, was nowhere near him, “Huh, well fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This series will not be focusing on canon Harry Potter and his gang at all and they’ll probably not appear again. I just wanted to do this because it’s interesting of a concept to have outside view of Harry’s sorting. Other than that, the rule for this story is that the events in the HP canon remain unchanged.


	2. The Wand Shop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Techno goes to buy his first wand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note, this takes place WAY before the first chapter. Techno is in his fifth year already when Harry comes in.

Sufficient to say, Techno wasn’t keen on going anywhere that day. 

He had planned to stay home, maybe read some books, just generally relaxing. Summer break just started, and he wanted to make the most out of it. But _nooo_ , his parents insisted he went with the rest of the family to get wands, ignoring the fact that there were still 2 more months until he could start going to Hogwart. Something about convenience, he couldn’t remember anymore.

And so, there he was, standing in the corner of a crookey old shop, trying to make himself not stand out. Shelves lined the wall, filled to the brim with hundreds of small cases that looked like they could be knocked over any minute. With each movement, each little sound, Techno felt the anxiety overwhelm him with the fear of knocking something over.

His younger brother, Tommy was talking to the shop owner, being his usual loud self. Who even allowed this child in here, wasn’t he a bit too young for this? 2 years too young? The shopkeeper didn’t seemed to mind, with how excited him was handing the small boy a murder weapon. 

In horror, Techno watched as Tommy waved the wand and accidentally shot a beam of light his way. He yelped, ducking just in time for the light to hit the shelf behind him, sending several wand cases crashing down.

Oh great…

He blushed, shuffling to the side a bit. It wasn’t even his fault, but he still felt the pressure piling onto him.

“Oho, I kinda like this!” Tommy laughed, but the shopkeeper snatched the wand away from him before he could do anything else. 

In the end, it was the fifth wand he tried that matched Tommy. A mundane, brown coloured wand, it was clear from his expression that Tommy wasn’t very happy with it.

“A wand doesn’t need to look cool,” their father patted him on the shoulder when he started sulking, “It just needs to work well. Thank you, Ollivander.”

The shopkeeper nodded, “The next one?”

“Te-” They were about to say his name, he knew that. Techno stood up a bit straighter, staring at his parents tensely. But his father took one look at him and shook his head, “Wilbur, you go up next.” 

And somehow, that was even worse of a punch in the gut than if he had been chosen. Just how obvious was his nervousness? Grimacing, Techno turned away and stared blankly at the wall.

He tuned out of Wilbur’s session, more focused on not being as close off and trying to look more confident. Puffing his chest up, straightening his back like he was a soldier, Techno tried his best to appear careless.

Tommy took one look at him and snickered, “Okay, big man.”

“What?” Techno glared at his younger brother.

“No, no,” the boy waved his hands dismissively, “Just...you’re such a tryhard sometimes.”

Techno glared at him, but he could feel himself relaxing slightly. Somehow, knowing that Tommy will always be an annoying ass brought him a warm familial comfort. It helped Techno enough that he could loosen up his stance into a more casual, indifferent look, just how he liked it.

He didn’t even notice that Wilbur was done. Not until his other brother came back with a dark brown coloured wand and nudged him forward, “Your turn.”

“Uhuh,” his tone even, Techno stepped forward, looking at the shopkeeper expectantly.

“Hm…” the man backed away into a corner of his shop, shuffling through the mess of wands and scrolls, before returning with a dozen or so cases in hand, “This is a tricky one. Try this. Cherry wood, dragon heartstring core, 13 inches, very flexible.”

Gingerly, Techno held up the wand, examining it over for any physical clue that they were destined together. Of course, it remained the same, looking like just any other wand.

“Wave it,” the shopkeeper prodded, “Flick it around. See if it does anything.”

Techno moved it up and down, not quite sure what he was expecting. 

Not even a tiny spark came from the tip, the wand remaining still in his hand. The shopkeeper stared at it for several seconds before snatching it away, “Not this one then.” He said, once again retreating back to the shelves.

“Oh no, is the big man himself, Techno, turning out to be a squib?” On the sideline, Tommy called, “Nobody could have predicted this.”

“Shut up Tommy,” Techno bit out.

“We’ll see. We’ll see.”

The shopkeeper came back, interrupting their conversation. In his hands were even more cases. Looking at the amount, Techno physically resisted a gulp. Was he supposed to try out all of them?

“Here,” another wand was thrusted into his hands, “Blackthorn, veela hair, 11 inches, unbending flexibility.”

“Uhm...alright?” Techno flicked in his hands. 

Again, nothing happened. Tommy was yelling something about “squibs”, only to be silenced by their father. Thank god for that.

“Hm…” that wand too was taken away, replaced by another one soon after, “Let’s see this one. Aspen, phoenix feather, 13 inches, flexible.”

To his right, Wilbur yawned, yelling an annoyed, “Hurry up!” It seemed like he wasn’t that thrilled to be out of the house either.

“Oh shut up,” Techno rolled his eyes. Waving his hands so fast it made a sound, Techno waited for another disappointment.

For a moment, nothing happened, and he was just about to give it all up. His life, his future, everything…

But then, he heard a tiny pop, then another.

BANG

The area next to him exploded, sending a blast of wind in a direction. It lasted only for a moment before everything went back to normal.

Techno turned back to the shopkeeper, horrified. The man must be mad, because he didn’t seem to give any care about the mess. He was even smiling! “Fascinating. Truly, fascinating. Hold on there.”

He ran to the back of his shop, disappearing from view only to remerge some moment later, a dust-covered case in his hand.

“These types of wands are only available in a limited collection,” He began, settling down the case and opening it, “The core of these are from beasts not native to here. A friend of mine once gifted me a dozen or so wands like these, and they have been collecting dust in my storage ever since. But you seem to be…”

He held out a wand, and Techno’s face fell at the pitiful sight. It looked even lamer than Tommy’s, being a simple dark brown coloured, looking more like an wooden stick than anything magical.

“Acacia wood, with a White River Monster spine core. 9 inches, unbending flexibility. Try it out, hm?”

Techno grabbed the wand hesitantly, feeling a slight buzz from it when it was in his hands. After the last fiasco, he made sure to wave it in a cautious motion. He wasn’t a squib, at least. Thank god for that. But he didn’t want any explosion either.

But it seemed like he wouldn’t need to worry. Before Techno was even done moving, a little bubble of light began to appear in the path he was waving his wand in. It lit up the whole shop, shining brilliantly for a moment, then fading away gentilly.

“Yes, I think this is it.” The shopkeeper smiled, “I’m sure this wand will serve you well. Acacia is a tricky wood, it works only for the most gifted of wizards, while White River Monster spine core produces spells of utmost force and elegance. You are to be a powerful wizard indeed.”

“Hah, it looks so lame!” Tommy cackled, but was stopped with a single glare from Techno.

Wilbur nodded along, holding up his own wand, “Unique wand, huh? I do admit, I’m a little jealous,” 

After everything was paid for, Techno was the first out of the shop. Feeling the cool evening air on his skin, he finally let go of his wariness. He still couldn’t wait to get home, of course. But it was better outside than in the dangy shop. 

In his pocket, his new wand buzzed softly, and Techno took it out. Examining it over, it still didn’t look any cooler than before. But White Monster spine, or whatever that core was, sounded pretty cool, so he’d trust in that.

“I’m expecting great things from you wand,” he whispered, feeling as it gave another buzz in his hand before pocketing it again.

His family was calling. With one last look at the old wand shop, Techno turned his back and left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanna get this one out of the way because I kinda hate it ngl. The next update is gonna take a day or three, but it will probably be better than this one.
> 
> To give you a hint of my sleep schedule, it’s 2 AM right now. I have been writing all night (so don’t except good quality works lol)


	3. First Period

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the first period? Seriously?

Tommy was not looking forward to Potion. 

“Take a seat.”

Not only was he separated from Tubbo, the Ravenclaw getting Charms as his first subject, the Potion class just so happen to locate in a dark, dingy dungeon that was stupidly cold (seriously, couldn’t they at least put a fireplace in this damn place?). Plus, their teacher, Mr. Greasy over there, was spotting the biggest scowl in the world. Maybe he was butthurted about his house not getting Harry Potter. Maybe he just woke up and found his bed covered in foul smelling substances. Whatever the case, this looked like it would be a painful class overall.

Tommy remembered this professor from his first year. Very clearly, in fact. The man was always in a bad mood for some reason, and so he made a fantastic pranking victim. Now, Tommy was in his second year, and yet it seemed the teacher hadn’t changed one bit over the whole summer break. 

The same greasy black hair, sour expression, it was good old Professor Snape.

“Mr. Innit!” Professor Snape called out for attendance, sounding as annoyed as ever.

“Here,” Tommy raised his hand casually, not paying much attention at all. That was, until Professor Snape started clearing his throat.

“That is ‘Here, professor’ to you, Mr. Innit.”

Tommy stared at the man, bewildered. Seriously, how can one be so demanding? And show such obvious favouritism. Tommy wasn’t deaf, he can hear the Slytherin students around him just fine. A multiple of them have dropped the “professor”, and yet nobody called them out on it!

“Here, _professor_ ,” he corrected, tone dripping his sarcasm. But it seemed Professor Snape had taken that as a win, because he had turned away to call another name.

Tommy let out a sigh of relief. Not today, detention. 

“Bloody fucking hell. What a fucking ego,” he murmured under his breath, wiping away imaginary sweat from his forehead. His parents would blow if they found out he got in trouble on the first day of class. Even worse, he would never hear the end of it from his brothers.

“Mr. Innit?”

_Uhm…_

Reluctantly, Tommy looked up from his table, his eyes meeting his teacher. He gulped.

“I heard that,” Professor Snape snarled, tone vaguely threatening. Was he even allowed to speak like that to children? Tommy wouldn’t fucking know, because it felt like this man had gotten away with it for a bloody long time, “Detention tonight, Mr. Innit, for your tongue.”

Oh god dammit, seriously? They were 5 minutes in, no work had even been done yet! Tommy slammed his head into the open book on the table, groaning. Next to him, his fellow housemates shot sympathetic smiles .

He fucking hated Potion.

\----------------------------

“In the first class, Tommy? This had to be some kind of record,” Wilbur cackled as they continued walking down the hall to dinner. 

On Tommy’s other side, Techno rolled his eyes, saying in his usual monotone voice, “Wait ‘til Dad hears about this.”

“Oh shut your mouths, you two!” Tommy bit out, hands scrunching up the detention slip in his hands, “Techno, don’t you have a green bastard to be fighting right now instead of being here, marvelling at my suffering?”

“Dream’s with his friends,” Techno replied boredly, “Duels don’t start until after six. As surprising as it sounds, we do still have a life outside of our rivalry.”

“Yeah, sure…” Tommy turned back to the detention slip in his hands, “Oh bloody fucking _…Ugh…_ ”

“Good luck with that,” Wilbur patted him on the shoulder smiling in pity,

On the other hand, Techno just shrugged, not even trying to hide how little he cared, “Really, I thought you would get used to it by now.” Wilbur gave a moment of hesitation before nodding along in agreement.

“You know,” said Tommy, “I fucking hate you guys.”

“That’s the spirit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short one, but it’s alright because double update!
> 
> (Also, it’s 12 AM, yay!)


	4. Last Period

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tubbo joined his friend in detention.

Tubbo slowly walked out of the Potion classroom, barely holding onto the pile of books in his hands. He looked around, careful not to bump into anybody. Thankfully, most of the other students paid him no mind, rushing by in a hurry to get back to their common room. They were probably exhausted, Tubbo couldn’t blame them. The first few days were always the hardest as everyone struggled to get back to their school life. By this time, most would already be hungry. He as well heard his stomach growling, but unfortunately, he still had books to return to the library. After this though, he was getting food the first change he got.

It wasn’t long before he was alone in the hallway, lone footsteps echoing on the stone pathway. The dungeon was cold, so Tubbo hugged his robe closer in order to stay warm. He really wished he had a map, now that he thought about it. Evidently, one year wasn’t enough to learn the ways through this castle of a school.

He made a turn into another hallway, looking around. Still no way up from the dungeon yet.

“Oh no,” he murmured mostly to himself, then raised his voice a notch into a yell, “Uhm...Hello, anybody there?”

No answer. Tubbo continued down the hall, looking through the windows to see creatures swimming through the Great Lake. 

“Can you tell me the way out please?” He waved at it, watching as it paused for a second, then swam away, “Okay then…”

It was still so cold. Tubbo shivered. 

There was a soft thump ringing through the hall, then another. Hope blossomed in him as Tubbo looked up, recognizing the sound as footsteps. Quickly, he made his way toward it, stopping only to pick up the books he accidentally dropped in his hurry.

“Hello?” He called, “Hello!”

He couldn’t see anybody yet, but shadows were moving on the wall leading to the next hallway, distinctly human-shaped. Tubbo speed-walked his way toward it. Peeking his head out, he said, “Hello, uhm...can you help me?”

Their heads turned toward him, and Tubbo was met with a group of Slytherin students. The expression turned into a scowl as soon as they realized who he was. One of them, a platinum blond boy, stepped forward, “What are you doing here?” He questioned.

“I’m kind of...lost,” Tubbo scratched the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly. In doing that, the books he was holding onto nearly dropped to the ground, and he hurried back into his original position to maintain balance, “Can you tell me the way out of here?”

“Seriously, you don’t even know the way around? Are you dumb or something?” The blond boy scowled.

“That’s rude…”

“Tch, just piss off,” he clicked his tongue, looking away, “I can’t waste my time with you.”

With that, he gestured to his group, and they all turned their back onto him, walking away. Tubbo remained rooted in his spot, shocked at the blatant disrespect, “Oi!”

None of them noticed, so he raised his voice even more, “OI!”

“What?” It was the blond boy again. He hissed, turning back, “What the bloody hell do you want?”

“Directions!” Tubbo glared at him, though even he would admit he didn’t look that intimidating, “Just tell me the way out of here and I’ll be on my way, alright?”

“And what if I don’t want to?” The blond boy approached toward him. Tubbo stayed on his ground, not wanting to back down.

That turned out to be a mistake. The Slytherin walked right into his space, and pushed him back. Tubbo stumbled, the books falling out of his hands and flopped onto the floor. The Slytherin students laughed, pointing at him and whispering.

Distress blurred the edge of his vision, and Tubbo let out a shout at the group, “Hey! Why did you do that?”

“Why not?” The blond boy shrugged, which only managed to fuel his anger, “What are you going to do ab-”

“Tubbo!” A yell interrupted, and Tubbo whirled around toward the source of the familiar voice. Walking up to the group was Tommy, good old Tommy, looking mildly annoyed as usual, “What are you doing, taking so long? It’s dinner time!”

“I...uhm…” Tubbo trailed off, looking away from his friend.

“What is this?” Tommy stopped once he could see what was going on. Folding his arms, he raised an eyebrow, “Who are they?”

“Oh, just friends,” the blond boy grinned, “Passing through, you know-”

“You pushed me!” Tubbo yelled, kicking his foot out. The boy stumbled, catching his balance after a few seconds. Tubbo would count that as a win.

“Seriously dude?” Tommy glared at the boy. Being a literal lamppost, he could look down at him with ease, “I mean, maybe he deserves it sometimes-”

“Tommy!” Of course Tommy would decide to insult him instead of literally anything else. Tubbo pouted at him.

“-But that’s still not cool.”

“What? Are you his boyfriend or something?” The other students laughed as the boy said. He looked up at Tommy and did a spit, only for it to drop down his chin pathetically. Quickly, he wiped away. 

“Okay now that’s just lame,” Tommy pushed the boy back, “Go the fuck away.”

“Oh what is this? Not going to face me?” The blond turned around to his friends, “Look at this wimp.” They cackled along, and the blond boy looked back, opening his arms in a “come at me” manner.

“Scared? I thought you Gryffindor are supposed to be courageous.”

“...Okay, that’s it,” Tommy whirled around and jumped at the boy, sending them both to the floor. Good old Tommy, except not good, not good this time!

Everybody there screamed as the two boys struggled against each other. Tubbo could hear his own yelling the clearest, “Tommy no!”

“You little bitch!” He heard his friend screamed.

“It’s not worth it, Tommy! What if the teacher-”

“What’s going on here?” A grungy voice called out, and all of them jumped when they saw Professor Snape coming around the corner. The potion teacher took in the scene, then snarled, “Mr. Innit. What, pray tell, is this?”

“They were-” Tubbo began, only to cut off when the teacher raised a hand toward him.

“I did not ask you,” Professor Snape gritted out, “Mr. Innit?”

“They were terrorizing my friend, professor,” Tommy said simply, “I was just defending him.”

“Yes, yes,” the professor turned to the Slytherin group, “Is this true?”

Tubbo resisted the urge to groan as one by one, each of them began shaking their heads.

“No, professor.”

“-They have been annoying us for hours, professor.”

“-Just suddenly jumped onto him-”

“Enough,” Professor Snape cut them off, “You may go. Now, Mr. Innit, that will be a week of detention for this misbehaviour-”

“What?” Tubbo shouted. Standing up, he glared at the teacher, “You will just take their words for it?”

“They are witnesses-” 

“They were not! Tommy didn’t do anything wrong!”

“I would take their words over yours.”

Tubbo let his jaw hang open, “ _What_?”

“Would you like detention too, Mr-”

“Yes.”

“That’s what I thought, now...” Professor Snape paused as he realized, “Pardon me?”

“You are pardon.”

“ _What-_ ”

“I would like detention,” Tubbo looked up defiantly at the potion teacher. Next to him, Tommy raised an unimpressed eyebrow, but he was ignored, “My friend did nothing wrong. So if you’re going to punish him, then punish both of us.”

Satisfaction overcame him when he saw a slight twitch of the man’s brow. Professor Snape, grimacing, said, “Very well. A week of detention for both of you then.”

With that, he turned his tail and left, the Slytherin following behind him like little evil ducklings. The blond boy even took his time to turn back and stuck a tongue out at them.

Tubbo watched as Tommy retaliated with a middle finger, then sighed, “Oh god, why did I do that?”

“Yeah, why did you do that? That was dumb, not gonna lie. I thought you’re suppose to be a Ravenclaw.”

“Look, it was a spur of the moment decision,” Tubbo leaned down and began picking up his books, “I just thought, since we’re friends, that we should stick together, you know?”

Tommy watched him, stilled.

“Sorry, yeah, it was kinda dumb,” Tubbo sighed.

It was just the two of them in the hall now. Two of them and the squid creature swimming by. Tubbo frowned sadly, confused by his own action.

Then Tommy leaned down, and started helping him pick up the books. The Gryffindor spared no mind to Tubbo’s surprise glance.

“What are you doing?”

“Helping, you idiot,” Tommy retorted. Annoyance laced his tone, but there was something else as well, a strange, yet familiar fondness, “You are still stupid, but I guess this time you’re right. 

“I am?”

“Friends stick together, yeah. Thanks for trying to defend me.”

Outside the window, the squid swam away, disappearing back into the water’s depth. There, alone beside his friend in that corridor Tubbo did not even try to hide his smile.

“Yeah, friends stick together.”

\----------------------------

“Seriously though, that was still kinda stupid. I was gonna get you to pay Techno later to beat those students up for us. Now we’re both busy in detention instead.”

“Okay. Tommy. Whatever you say.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update for the Double Trouble! They do be matching in every way huh?
> 
> (Also,excuseanyEnglishmistake.Iamsoheckingtiredit’smidnight)
> 
> Next time...well, idk, we’ll see.


	5. A Matter of Perspective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream on his house and its reputation.

Dream wasn’t blind.

He could clearly see what his house was going through. He saw the narrowed eyes, the distrust radiating off others when they figured out what his house was. He saw the teachers, supposedly fair, unbiased individuals, yet showing a clear dislike for them. Lowering grades whenever possible, asking them harder questions than usual just to have a taste of power over them. 

Something about the emerald green presented hatred from others, and there was nothing any of them can do about it. So now, whenever possible, he chose not to wear his house colour at all. Instead, he opted for a more neutral white shirt, walking down the hall that day. They had classes off, so not many donned their robes. He fitted right into the crowd.

Around, students hurried down the hall past him. It was mostly first years, map in hand, trying to find their way around the castle. A group of them walked by, laughing. Though he didn’t mean to intrude in their conversation, his ears still automatically perked up to hear a snippet of the talk.

“-Have you seen that guy? He’s definitely a death eater, Slytherin and all.”

“Really? I thought he was really nice.”

“Probably just acting.”

Dream sped away, not wanting to hear anymore. His hands drifted subconsciously to where his green tie would be if he was wearing a robe, as if to hide as much of it away as he can. 

At Hogwart, green represents hatred.

\----------------------------

He understood where the stigma came from. Their house history was terrible. Known for dark magic, there had been a great deal of terrible people that came from Slytherin. Add to that the views on blood status, and the mightier-than-thou most of the pureblooded kids in the house had for others, it was no question why they weren’t liked very much.

But it all got so much worse after the whole dark lord thing. Now, he has to be careful to not even try too hard in class, else the professors get worried. Keeping his grades high, but not too high. Doing spells that were good, but not too advanced.

The only time he could go all out was whenever he was fighting with Techno. In the late hours of the day, when the duelling room housed not but one or two people, most of whom would often leave when they saw the two Slytherin entering. There, in that room, they were free to use all of their power. 

Physical punches and kicks, making them bloody and bruised. Spells flung every which way, lighting up the whole room. All their senses in overdrive, eyes darting everywhere, mind struggling to keep track of every action, every word spoke. So evenly matched they were, that their back-and-forth sometimes lasted until one or both of them collapsed in exhaustion. 

Just so happen, it was one of those days today, as the two of them found themselves on the floor, huffing and puffing, their visions blurry from tiredness.

“I hate you. What was _that_?” Techno coughed out, still managing to sound dead inside even when he was breathing ten times a second.

“Say that to yourself. How did you even hit me? I was sure I dodge out of the way,” Dream replied.

“Dude, you didn’t lean far enough right. Of course my kick landed.”

“That’s because I don’t want to get hit by your _Petrificus Totalus_!”

“And that’s the plan.”

“Yeah, okay, I hate you too,” Dream chuckled, knowing full well that he didn’t mean it at all. After all, here in this room, with his rival, was where he felt the most freedom. Unburdened by the outside world, with its conflicting houses and world-destroying overlord, here they could just focus on beating the bloody hell out of each other. 

And what else could he want? Well, maybe to not get kicked in the chest.

“Something bothering you?” His rival asked, sitting up while Dream was still lying on the floor. Technically, that meant it was his loss, and Dream bit back a sigh of defeat.

“No? Why do you ask?”

“Well, you always get this thoughtful look on your face, which means you’re distracted by something…”

“Really? Please tell me I don’t do that when I’m fighting too.”

Techno remained silent. 

“God dammit. Remind me to fix it later,” Dream groaned, sitting up himself, feeling as his muscles screamed in pain, “...And yeah, I guess you could say something’s on my mind.”

“Uhuh?” Techno poked at him, then waited.

“Yeah…” It took him a moment to find his voice, his mind still slowly coming back to normal. But once the words were out of his mouth, they just kept on flowing, “It’s just this thing, you know? Slytherin are automatically labeled as bad now. This stigma we have attracted to us makes everything so difficult.”

“I tutored a bunch of first-years yesterday,” Techno nodded, “They weren't thrilled when they found out which house I’m in.”

“You’re a half-blood as far as I know, yet you get grouped in with the rest of us as well?” Dream clicked in his tongue, “This is just terrible. If I see another first-year crying when they get sorted into Slytherin again, I swear I’m gonna flip. It’s just... _ugh._ ”

“Yeah...” Techno sighed, “But honestly though, I can see why. Have you seen how many jerks there are in here? At least half of our house are blood purists.”

“I know. I used to be one, remember?”

“Oh don’t remind me.”

“I was horrible back then, wasn’t I?” Dream laughed, tired vocal cord somehow making his voice come out sounding like a high-pitched goblin. He stood up slowly, trying to get himself to calm down, “But really though, this is an issue. I can’t even go to the bathroom without somebody looking suspicious. Like, do they think I’m going to start summoning the dark lord in the toilet or something?”

“Are you?”

“Of course not!”

“Okay, just making sure,” Techno shrugged as he pulled out his wand and casted a healing spell on himself, “Well, it sounds like you’ve got a lot of issues going on in your mind. That must be exhausting.”

Dream sighed and did the same. His wand glowed a faint green hue as the healing took effect. The colour vaguely reminded him of his house, “Oh yeah, it is.”

“Want me to beat it out of you or something?”

“You think you can?”

“In a heartbeat, nerd.”

“Okay then,” Dream widened his stance, once again ready for his opponent. He saw Techno smirking from across the room before doing the same. He probably had another dirty trick up his sleeve, judging from that smile, which only grew wider when he recognized that Dream had noticed it.

“Ready whenever you are.” His opponent called.

Dream narrowed his eyes, his own lips curling into a brutal grin.

“Let’s do this!”

\----------------------------

Although he had seen a lot, Dream had to admit he hadn’t experienced many of those issues himself. Of course, there was the whole distrust thing, automatically assuming that he was into dark arts and stuff. But nothing too drastic, nothing that would warrant more than a second of thought.

(Although he guessed his bar of drasticality had been scuffed, seeing that he now saw being presumed to be evil a completely normal thing).

But well, there was a first time for everything. As he backed away into a corner, Dream looked up at the two towering seventh-years before him. The teachers would be pissed if he laid hands on them, he knew that. Against two Hufflepuff, they would never trust the words of a Slytherin student. Such was the fault of the system. 

In other words, this wasn’t a fight that he could win.

So he remained silent, opting to be as passive as possible, “What do you need?”

“Don’t pretend to be innocent,” one of them yelled, spit flying out of his mouth as he spoke, “You were the one that levitated water over me during lunch!”

“That isn’t me.”

“It obviously had to have come from the Slytherin table, and you were looking at me then. Who else could it be?”

He couldn’t believe they just automatically assume that. The brain of some people, “I don’t know? But it’s not me!”

Dream yelped as they lifted him up by the collar of his robe and slammed him against the wall. The back of his head hitted against the solid brick, sending his vision into a sea of stars. 

Briefly, he wondered if he could tell Professor Snape. His house leader would surely believe him, right? It was the only chance he got of winning something out of this. 

Then, he heard somebody yell, “Leave him alone!”

Dream looked toward the source of the sound, but could not for the life of him see who it was. His blurry vision splitted into two, and he desperately blinked, hoping it would go back to normal. 

“You get away!” There was another voice, much higher-pitched this time. It continued, yelling at him, “Dream, plug your ears.”

That he could understand. Dream closed his eyes, brought his hands up to his ears and squeezed them tightly. Even with the sound muffled, he could still hear a piercing scream, followed by a very triumphant shout, “Yeah! That’s right! Go away!”

He opened his eyes and met with the faces of his friends, Sapnap and George.

“Are you okay?” Sapnap began, coming forward to check him over him. George followed shortly behind, casting a worried glance at him.

“Did you scream?” Dream immediately asked the goggled boy. 

George nodded.

“Don’t even lecture him, Dream. It’s necessary this time,” said Sapnap, glaring at him.

“...Still you should be careful with that. What if somebody figures out you’re a half-siren?” Dream looked George over, “You see how they treat the half-giants here.”

“I know,” George pouted, “But you needed help!”

Well, he couldn’t deny that, “Yeah, I guess so. Thanks, to both of you.”

“Of course!” Sapnap grinned, “Don’t worry, I’ve seen those two before. They’ve been going around terrorizing your other housemates for weeks. It’s a personal thing.”

“I could have guessed,” Dream sighed, “They got pranked on and just automatically assume it’s one of us. Can you even believe that?”

“Yeah, that's just silly,” George folded his arms, pouting, “The sorting hat isn’t even that good. I should have been in Ravenclaw.”

Sapnap smirked, “In your dreams, Gogy.”

“How did Sapnap end up there but not me?”

“I guess I’m just smarter.”

“This is not fair. It’s all rigged.”

Dream laughed as he watched his friends argue, amused by their childish attitude, but thankful for them at the same time. Of course, he could trust these two to be above things like judging houses. They were always better than that. He was so proud of them.

Or at least that was what he was thinking until George turned to him and said, “I think we can all agree Dream would always be in Slytherin though,”

“Yeah,” Sapnap nodded, not even a hint of hesitation in his voice.

“Oi, what is that supposed to mean?” He tried his best to sound offended, but no matter how hard he tried, Dream couldn’t keep the laughter out of his voice.

What luck, to have such wonderful friends beside him.

\----------------------------

The fireplace crackled, the dim room lit only by the torches on the wall. Alone in the dorm, Dream was sitting on his bed, flipping through a book on strategy and listening to the sloshing of water outside, when suddenly the door to the dormitory slammed open.

In walked Techno, spotting a newly splitted lip. The boy collapsed onto his own bed, next to Dream’s, who quickly came over to check on his roommate.

“What happened?” He questioned. 

“Some people just really deserve to get punched,” replied Techno, “And before you ask, it was Sapnap that paid me to do it.”

“Ah,” Dream sighed, shaking out of his head the image of Techno punching the hell out of the two seventh-years, “No witnesses?”

“No.”

“And they won’t tell?”

“Obliviate. Didn’t think about that, did you?”

“Yeah, okay. In my defense, it was a bit hard when I couldn’t even see properly,” Dream pulled out his wand and began casting. The dark room glowed up with a gentle emerald green hue of the mending spell, “Now stay still. We better heal that wound before any teachers find out.”

Techno nodded, and the two of them fell into a comfortable silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it obvious that I simp for Technodream friendship? Because I simp for Technodream friendship. Don’t you love it when you and your friends beat each other half to death?
> 
> (I should get some sleep...)
> 
> Edit 21/9/20: Also when you think about it, Harry kinda...suck at duelling. He spams Expelliarmus, ban him admin.


	6. The Feeling of Not Belonging (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sapnap wondered how he got into Ravenclaw.

Sometimes Sapnap wondered how he got into Ravenclaw.

He wasn’t exceptionally intelligent, wasn’t knowledgeable like Wilbur, wasn’t as perceptive as Tubbo. He couldn’t count how many times he struggled on a test or got stuck outside the dormitory, unable to finish a riddle. 

He was just...Sapnap. Sapnap, the average student that stayed in Dream’s shadow most of the time. Even sitting there, in his house’s common room, he didn’t feel like he belonged at all. Bookshelves lined the wall, scrolls littered on the floor. All that knowledge that he would probably never bother to read up on. 

Sapnap sighed, gazing outside the window to the sky above. A clear blue, it gave him no hints as to what he was doing wrong. Of course, as with any other things here, he would have to find the answer himself.

\----------------------------

Sapnap wasn’t a mean person. Despite all his teasing, he genuinely thought his friends were smart, talented people, and would gladly beat up anybody that argued otherwise. 

But, even he had to ask this time. Why was George being like this?

As he walked beside his friend down the corridor, Sapnap glanced behind them to spot the three or five heads sticking out from the corner. They blinked, blushing when they realized he’d seen them, and disappeared once again, leaving him very much confused.

“What is it?” George turned to him, asking. 

Sapnap just stared back at him as though he’d sprouted another head, “You didn’t notice that?”

“Notice what?”

“...Nevermind.” He sighed. If those people wanted to speak to George, they’d have to do it themselves. For now, he would leave it be. 

They continued on walking.

Little did he know then, that it could get so much worse. It was a few days before the Hallowe’en feast when George came up to him after classes were done, his face scrunched up in confusion.

“Yeah?” Sapnap prodded his friend, wanting to know why the Hufflepuff was looking like he just swallowed a whole lemon, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I’m...just a bit confused,” George sighed. Reaching into his robes, he pulled out a dozen or so letters. Among them, Sapnap could see that some letters were already opened, whilst some still sealed with heart-shaped wax. 

Could it be any more obvious than that? Looking down at them, then up to George again, he asked, “So what’s the problem here?”

“Read these,” George stuffed a letter into his hand, an opened one. Sapnap unfolded the paper inside and scanned through it.

When it was finished, he simply shrugged, “They want to go to the Hallowe’en Feast with you.”

“Yeah, that’s the problem,” George winced as he was handed back the letter, “All these letters said the exact same thing, but I don’t know why they would want me to go with them. Sapnap, wh-what if they found out that I’m a half-siren and this is just an opportunity to interrogate me?”

Sapnap blinked at his friend.

Then blinked again.

“George, are you feeling sick?”

“...No?”

Sapnap sighed, a headache beginning to build up. He would give George the benefit of the doubt and assumed the other just wasn’t interested, “Okay, if you  _ really _ don’t want to go with them, then ignore it I guess.”

“You think that would be alright? I don’t want them to get angry, if they truly have information about me.”

“Don’t worry,” Putting a hand on his friend's shoulder, Sapnap gave a firm nod, “It’s going to be alright. If you have any issues, you can call me or Dream, okay?”

“Okay,” George smiled, looking slightly less stressed than before, which Sapnap would count as a win, “Thanks, Sapnap.”

“It’s no problem, George.”

And that was it, he thought it would end there. 

He was wrong.

Where the final straw truly came was the day before the Hogsmead weekend, when George took the time to barge into the Ravenclaw common room, distress clear on his face.

“THERE’S MORE LETTERS!” He shouted, scaring away a few younger students. 

Sapnap looked up from his spell book, jaw dropping open when he saw the pile of letters George was holding in his hands, “What-” he cut off, shocked.

“I got these from the owl this morning,” George lamented, dumping the letters onto the floor. Sapnap cringed as he thought about having to clean it all up, “Sapnap, I think they know. Please, I need he-”

“Okay, calm down. You need to control your volume, George.” 

“S-Sorry,” George put a hand over his mouth.

Sapnap reached out and picked up a letter from the pile. Opening it, he examined it over.

There was even a heart at the bottom of the page this time! It was  _ so _ obvious what they wanted! Sapnap mentally facepalmed.

“George, you will be fine.”

“I didn’t go with them to the feast, so now they want to meet at Hogsmeade. What should I do-”

“George, it’s okay-”

“-They’ll ask about why my voice get so loud sometimes and I’m terrible at lying. I’ll reveal that I’m a half-”

“George!” Sapnap snapped. Holding the letter up to his friend’s face, he pointed at the heart, “Do you see this?”

“Well, yeah-”

“Do you know what it mean-”

“I-”

“Means they like you dumbass!” Sapnap shouted, “They have a crush on you!”

“They...huh?” George snatched the letter and held it up even closer to his face. His eyes scanned the text, then looked to the heart at the bottom, “...Oh.”

“Yeah,  _ oh _ .” Slapping the top of George’s head (gently), Sapnap sighed, “Look, George, I don’t know how you haven’t notice your admirers-”

“I have admirers? What-”

“But this has been going on for too long now,” Sapnap took a deep breath, then continued, “So you got to resolve this. Either accept the dates or tell them straight up to leave you alone, alright?”

“Okay,” George nodded his head frantically, “I will. I will!” 

“This is peak dumbassery, George.”

”You don’t have to  say that aloud,” the older boy glared, nudging his friend slightly in mock annoyance. Sapnap dodged out of the way with ease, laughing loudly at his friend.

George continued talking, “But hey, you’re the smart one here. You know, being a Ravenclaw and all. It’s natural that you'd be the one to resolve this.”

Huh?

It took Sapnap a moment to process what the Hufflepuff just said. Him? The smart one? Him being the one to resolve it? 

He blushed, feeling something warm blossoming in his chest as he took the time to digest the information.

“...Sapnap?” George called, and Sapnap suddenly realized that he was waiting for a response. His friend stared at him, waiting

“Yeah,” His face breaking into a wide grin, Sapnap laughed, “You’re right.”

\----------------------------

“I still think I should have been in Ravenclaw instead though.”

“Okay, George. Say what you want.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s to you another episode of “Is Sapnap Actually Smart or Are His Friends Just Dumb?”, featuring Snapchat and Google.
> 
> Part 2 coming soon :)


	7. The Feeling of Not Belonging (End)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sapnap wondered how he got into Ravenclaw.

Birds flocked, screeching as they flew through the sky. The midday sun shone in from the windows. Sitting in the common room, in front of an unlit fireplace, Sapnap resisted the urge to yawn. He still had homework to do, and his professors would kill him if he missed another deadline. His grades were barely holding above average as it was.

But with the warm light shining into the empty room, warming up the place, his mind couldn’t help but wander as he slowly closed his eyes and let a distant memory come back to him.

\----------------------------

He was running through the manor, little legs bouncing as he rushed past the servants walking around. Behind him, he heard somebody called, but couldn’t quite recall what they had said as he continued on.

Little 9-year old Sapnap only had one goal in mind. To find his friend. 

“Dream!” He shouted, paying no attention to the servants warily whispering among themselves. “Dreaamm!”

Although this mansion wasn’t his own home, he had spent enough time here to know where everything was. Sapnap took a turn around the corner and ran down the twisting stairway, nearly spraining his foot in the process. He cried out, but only for a moment. Little Sapnap was strong, he could take it.

Jumping down the last set of stairs, he made his way to the garden door, “Oh Dreaamm!” He called, opening the door and peeking in. 

It wasn’t hard to spot Dream outside. Despite his green shirt blending in with the plants and flowers, Sapnap could spot the blonde mess that Dream called his hair anywhere. Smiling, he walked up to the other boy.

“Let’s play hide and seek Dream!”

Dream paused in whatever he was doing, and turned around, revealing his full body. But the mere sight of him was enough to make Sapnap stop in his steps. “Dream?” he cringed at the heavy eye bags his friend was spotting. Now that he noticed it, Dream’s hair was even messier than usual, and his eyes…

Sapnap took a step back as he stared at those dull orbs, so different from the usual bright green, “Dream...are you okay?” He asked.

It took Dream a few seconds to respond, “Yeah? I’m alright.”

“Uhm...are you sure?”

“Just go away, Sapnap,” Dream looked away from his friend, turning his attention back on what he was doing before, “I have to practice.”

“Practice?” Protested Sapnap, “You’ve been practicing all day!”

“Well, it’s obviously not enough then, because I still haven’t gotten it yet,” Dream gritted his teeth, one hand batting his friend back, “Leave me alone, Sapnap.”

“...No!” Sapnap shouted, ignoring the way his friend jumped at the loud sound, “No! I’m not gonna stand by and let you do this! At least get some sleep, for Merlin’s sake! How long have you been up?”

Dream hesitated. Actually hesitated. Sapnap could feel his anger growing, “Uhm...the whole night, maybe?”

“That’s it,” Walking up to the other boy, Sapnap examined the scene. Dream, hands outstretched, was chanting below his breath. Various items laid before him, floating up slowly as Dream moved his hands.

There was nothing more to look at, and so Sapnap made his move. Raising his own hand, he slapped Dream hard on the shoulder. The other boy cried out, items dropping unceremoniously on the floor as his concentration broke, “Sapnap! What do you think you’re doing?”

“What do  _ I _ think I’m doing? What do you think you’re doing, practicing wandless magic while looking like you could drop dead any second?”

“I. Have. To. Practice!” 

“Couldn’t you practice some other time?”

“No!” Dream ran a hand through his hair, gripping it tightly, “My parents are holding a party in two days, Sapnap. I have to master this before then, or else I might embarrass them-”

“Shut up!” Sapnap kicked hard Dream in the legs, sending the other boy stumbling backward, nearly falling onto the ground, “Look at you! Normally, you could’ve dodged that easily! Get some rest!”

“I’m fine!”

“You are not fine!”

“I-” Dream cut short. His hands still gripping his head, he fell onto the ground. Sapnap stood, taken back for only a moment, before running toward him.

“Dream? Dream! Are you okay?” He yelled, kneeling down beside his friend. Dream gave only a bleary groan in reply, his eyes drooping close, “Oh Merlin,  _ Dream _ !”

Tears forming at the corner of his eyes as Sapnap struggled to pick the other up. It wasn’t easy, him being much smaller in stature compared to his friend. Thankfully, it wasn’t long until the servants came in and helped. Looking at them lifting Dream up to carry him, Sapnap wondered how long they had stood there and watched Dream do his practice. The thought made his hands balled up.

They brought Dream back to his room, the boy softly snoring all the way. With every step, Sapnap trailed behind them like a puppy, looking up every few seconds to check on his friend. He refused to leave even once Dream was settled in bed. Instead, Sapnap pulled a chair up beside the bed and just sat there watching as Dream continued snoring away. His anger occupied him long enough that he didn’t get bored.

It was 2 hours until Dream finally awoken. Sapnap jumped up from the chair when he saw his eyes opening, “Dream!” He yelled, jumping onto the bed with the other boy.

“Sapnap?” Dream whispered, “Where...?”

“In your room, you idiot.”

“Practi-”

“NO!” Sapnap slapped Dream on the cheek, the other boy looking more shocked than angry at the action, “You’re not doing any of that. You’re staying here until those ridiculous eye bags disappear!”

“But-”

“Shut up, Dream!”

He laid down on the bed, pulling the blanket over both of them. Then, he proceeded to hug Dream as tight as he could.

“Sapnap, I can’t brea-”

“I’ll release if you promise to stay in bed.”

“I will, I will!”

“Good,” Sapnap, still holding onto his friend, eased up his hold a bit, “Then let’s go to sleep.” Dream gave a bearily nod back, and Sapnap closed his eyes. 

It was hard to tell how long they were in bed for, but when they woke up, it was nearing midnight. Dream yawned, pushing them out of the hug as he sat up, “Oh, it’s late.”

“Yeah…” Sapnap sprayed his limbs out on the large bed, eyes still closed.

“Sapnap?” he heard Dream called.

“Yeah?”

“...Thanks,” There was a pause, then a little chuckle, “And sorry for being stupid.”

“Uhuh,” Sapnap scootched himself over a bit, “Now get back to bed. We might as well sleep the rest of the night too.”

“Alright, alright,” Dream shuffled into the space and pulled the blanket over them once again, “But really, thanks, for being there.”

“Of course, dumbass. I’ll always be here, you’re never getting rid of me.”

\----------------------------

“Sapnap!” He jolted, sitting up, blinking.

“Uhm…”

“You’re late for class, idiot!” 

He turned to his right to see Dream and George standing over him, “How did you two get in?” He asked them.

“That riddle is easy,” Dream rolled his eyes. Sapnap winced when he remembered how long that had taken him.

“Y-Yeah, okay,” He looked between the two of them, “And...I’m late for class?”

“Or will be in 2 minutes,” George informed him, “We had the idea to come and find you, thankfully.”

“Thanks, guys,” Sapnap chuckled as he picked up the books and feathers on the table. Turning toward the door, he began walking toward it, “Sorry, I’m such an idiot sometimes. No idea how I got in Ravenclaw.”

He tripped over himself, stumbling the rest of the way to the door.

“...Sapnap? Is there a problem?” He heard Dream called.

“N-No?”

“...Okay, then.” 

“Well…” he bit his lips, hiding his face away, “Actually, nevermi-”

“Sapnap,” there was a hand on his shoulder, and Sapnap looked back to see his two friends casting a worried gaze at him. Dream continued, “You can tell us anything, you know?”

“Of course! But...you know...” Sapnap pursed his lips, looking down at his feet.

“Sapnap…” It was George that said it this time. Definitely concerning, since George doesn’t care much about anything most of the time.

“It’s…” His voice lowered into a hushed whisper, “Do you think I...deserve to be in Ravenclaw?”

The two of them looked at each other. Then, Dream spoke up, “Sapnap, are you asking if we think you’re smart or not?”

Leave it to Dream to see through him. Sapnap scratched the back of his neck, still looking down to his feet as he said, “Yeah, I guess so…”

“...Oh Sapnap,” he was prepared for their answer, they’d probably make a joke about it or something. Then, all three of them could laugh and move on with the day, like they normally would have done. 

But instead, Dream opened his mouth and continued, “You’re one of the smartest people I’ve ever met.”

Huh?

He looked up at them, “What?”

“You help us all the time,” George added.

“You’re probably more sensible than both of us combine, Sapnap,” Dream patted him on the shoulder, “You belong here, no doubt about it.”

“But I…” His eyes teared up at the corner, and Sapnap blamed the sleepiness, 

“Oh come on, here,” Dream chuckled as he pulled his younger friend into a hug, “Feeling better?”

Sapnap sniffled, wrapping his arms around Dream and squeezing tightly, “Thank you guys…”

“It’s no problem.”

“Always here to help, Sap.”

\----------------------------

“We’re late for class, guys,” George said, looking between the two of them, “And I don’t think emotional crisis can be classified as an excuse.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They be soft and cuddly because why the hell not. Also, backstory! What are your thought?
> 
> Also, imagine not updating at 12 AM. Couldn’t be me.


	8. To Be A Hufflepuff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes you won’t like where you ended up.

George wasn’t happy, to say the least.

He scowled at the yellow and black banner in the common room, then down below it to the portrait of Helga Hufflepuff hanging above the fireplace. Sunlight from the window shone on to it, making her look like some princess out of a muggle fairy tale book. 

The rest of the common room wasn’t better. Everywhere he looked, humble rustic furniture and warm tone, greeneries sparkling with water, everything just said Hufflepuff. Simple, hardworking Hufflepuff.

He wanted to scream, but he couldn’t even do that here. 

This wasn’t his house. He knew it wasn’t. The sorting hat must have made some kind of mistake. He begged for it to put him in Ravenclaw, and yet it kept on repeating about how great he’d fit into Hufflepuff.

He did not fit into Hufflepuff.

Everybody and their mother knew Hufflepuff was the throwaway house, for the students that didn’t have any dominant characteristic or talent. But George wasn’t any of those things, He was a learner. Before school had started, He’d spent countless hours reading up on the school, trying to see he’d house best fit him. Ravenclaw, it was Ravenclaw. But alas, it was up to some stupid old hat. And now he was stuck here for 7 years to come. 

Some older students walked into the room, whispering among themselves. They paused when they spotted him, then quickly went away to their own dorm. George’s scowl deepened.

So much for loyalty and kindness.

He won’t just accept this. So many other students had before, but not him. Standing up from the couch, George teared his eyes away from the house founder portrait. Going outside of the dormitory, he slammed the door behind him.

This wasn’t his house, and he would prove it.

\----------------------------

Many times, he’d read about the entryway into each house’s dormitory. Slytherin and Gryffindor asked you for a password. Hufflepuff required you to remember a specific rhythm of knocking. And Ravenclaw. Ravenclaw’s entry was guarded by a talking eagle-shaped knocker. It would ask you a riddle, and if you were able to answer, you would be let in, regardless of whether or not you were a part of the house.

That was it. No private passcode, nor secret knockings. All you needed was your mind. Knowledge was what was guarding the door, and that he had plenty. It was going to be easy. 

Confidently, George approached the eagle knocker. It regarded it, seemingly aware that he was not supposed to be here. Still, it opened its beak, and spoke, “What is your purpose here?”

“I…” George gulped. He had said that louder than he anticipated. Forcing himself to calm down, he continued, “I want to be let in.”

“And you shall, after answering this riddle,” The eagle’s changed tone, its voice projecting themselves around the hall. George inhaled sharply, preparing himself.

I do not listen to reason. If you let me lead, I’ll steer us toward the sirens’ song. What am I?

George paused as his mind came up blank. He didn’t remember this from any textbooks. It did mention sirens, so maybe it was something from mythology? He racked his brain, trying to remember all the stories with sirens in them. Most of them were about leading sailors to their doom so that fit. But going toward the sirens, if you would let them lead, whoever “you” was...A character from the stories maybe?

“Alexandra?” He suggested, “Or maybe Manalin the Bloody?”

The door did not budge, the eagle staying silent as it watched him.

He gulped. So maybe this was harder than he originally anticipated. He forced his brain to remember that this wasn’t just random trivia, it was a riddle. He needed to think outside the box.

Maybe the “do not listen to reason” was literal. Maybe it was an object. A magical object that could somehow steer things. 

Once again, he came up with nothing.

“Does it even exist?” George asked the door. Who knows, maybe he could have a hint. It was a hopeless attempt, but he still needed to try,

Of course, the eagle remained silent. 

Crossing his arms, George leaned against the wooden frame. His head raced, trying to think up an answer. But he kept on coming up with nothing. There were several things that could fit for one part, but wouldn’t for another. After half an hour of thinking, he sighed in disappointment, and stood up straighter, preparing to leave. But then, something made him pause.

Footsteps echoed down the hall, from where the stairs going down the tower was. Coming up from it was a Ravenclaw student. They looked right at George, seemingly not very surprised that he was there, before turning to the eagle knocker.

“What’s the riddle today?” They asked. George turned to leave, embarrassed that he had been caught trying to get in. As he did, he heard behind him the riddle being recited. There was a small hum from the student, before…

“Ego,” the student said, “Ego steer us to the sirens’ song.”

There was an unmistakable creak of the door opening, and George whirled around only to catch it closed again, the student nowhere to be seen. It was just him and the door once again.

He stood there, baffled. Ego? It was ego? How could ego steer you to sirens? Those two had nothing in common. It made no sense, and yet the door let the student in anyway, meaning that it was the right answer. 

But he didn’t understand at all, how-

Oh.

George lowered his head in realization. Of course he didn’t understand it, it was because he wasn’t a Ravenclaw. 

On the wooden door, the eagle knocker regarded him coldly, as if waiting for his decision. He knew what it wanted, of course. If he didn’t belong, there was nothing that was keeping him here.

With a final look at the door, George reluctantly walked away.

\----------------------------

The days following that, everybody in the common room could spot a first-year boy sulking by the fireplace. Conversations would stop around him, smiles turned to frown.

George took no notice of it.

If he couldn't even get into Ravenclaw, he guessed that there was no place he belonged other than here, in Hufflepuff, with other kids just like him. The rejected kids that no houses wanted. It was a somber realization, but he guessed he would have to come to term with it eventually.

Maybe it was okay. Maybe he would grow to tolerate Hufflepuff. George sighed, looking at the house founder portrait. His house founder. She still didn’t look like a fairy tale princess, in need of rescue. 

Hugging himself closer, George continued sitting still. 

That was, until he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around slowly, he looked up at the faces of his housemate.

“We want to show you something,” One of them, an older student that was probably in his 3rd year, said. The others nodded behind him as the older student extended a hand. Hesitantly, George took it.

They led him outside of the dorm room, then next door to the kitchen. There were no house elves around today, only Hufflepuff students standing around a table “We saw that you’re a bit down, so we’ve prepared some gifts,” One of them said.

George looked at what was on the table, jumping when he saw the mountains of sweets and baked goods. Pies with the seasonal fruits, brews from the greenhouse herbs. It all smelled heavenly, and must have taken a ridiculously long time to make.

“Uhm…” He began, “I don’t know what to say…”

“Then don’t,” they all laughed, but it was less a mocking tone than amusement, “Just enjoy. Sorry we couldn’t talk to you earlier today, we wanted to keep this a secret.”

He glanced around at his housemates. They were all smiling, waiting patiently for him to do something. 

Of course, those were the traits of Hufflepuff. Kindness, loyalty, hardworking. They say the best of people were from here. It didn’t mean anything to him before, but George was starting to get it now, staring at the warm, gentle faces surrounding him.

“We know you probably still don’t like it in Hufflepuff,” another one of his housemates spoke up, “We understand. Some of us had thoughts like that too. But, no matter what you may think, know that we will support you, if you ever need it.”

“I…” He said, shyly at first, but growing in confidence as he noticed nobody was teasing him about, “Thank you, so much.”

And they started laughing, some clapping him on the back. A cake was pushed forward in front of him, inscribed on it was his name and the word “Enjoy”. Drinks were poured for everybody, pastries divided into pieces to be shared.

The party continued past dinner, late into the night. Only when their house leader came in and yelled at them to go to sleep did they finally stopped. And as he snuggled into his blanket that night, his roommates snoring in the beds beside him, George allowed himself a tiny smile.

Maybe this was alright.

\----------------------------

A week later, he found himself once again at the entryway of the Ravenclaw dormitory. The eagle knocker took one glance at him and asked:

A man hangs an unused wand in his room, why?

Ah, George chuckled. He knew the answer to this one, having read the concept in a book before. Guess he was just unlucky the other day and got a difficult riddle. Opening his mouth, George answered without a hint of hesitation, “Because he’ll use it later.”

There was a pause. Then, a click was heard, and the door popped open.

“Welcome in,” The eagle said, but George was already shaking his head.

“No, thank you,” the Hufflepuff shook his head, feet already moving, “I’ve got somewhere else to be.” 

With that, he turned on his heels and left, not sparing a single look back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one kinda sucks, but gotta complete the Dream trio y’know. I’ll just get it out of the way.
> 
> For the riddles, there are two!
> 
> I do not listen to reason. If you let me lead, I’ll steer us toward the sirens’ song. What am I?  
> So in myth, sirens lure sailor to their death with songs, so to steer toward to sirens’ song mean to go toward disaster. To rephrase, if you let whatever this is lead you, it will guide you toward your demise. Also it doesn’t listen to reason, just a little bonus.  
> Multiple answer for this one. Ego, revenge, greed, etc.
> 
> A man hangs an unused wand in his room, why?  
> This is just Chekhov’s Gun.


	9. Muffins and Ducklings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Somehow, Bad found himself adopting three muffins.

It was a beautiful morning. Sunlight shone through the windows, birds chirping outside. Casually, Bad was just walking down the hallway back to his dorm when he suddenly heard voices talking. 

“I think I saw that corridor before.”

“Dream’s horrible with direction, why are we trusting him?”

“And why aren’t we talking about how you two are lost as well? I thought you’ve been here for a year already?”

Following the sounds, Bad peeked around a corner to spot three boys fumbling around, looking very much confused. One of them, a Ravenclaw donning a bandana on his head, was yelling at his friend.

“George, you’re so bad at this!”

Another boy, with a Slytherin robe and messy blonde hair, shouted, “Don’t say that about George! He’s wonderful.”

“Because of him, we’re stuck here and about to miss our next class!”

“Well, it’s your fault for sleeping in!”

The final boy, a Hufflepuff with weird goggles, was in the middle trying to calm everybody down. Bad chuckled at that. He could relate to the struggle.

Whatever was happening, it was obvious they needed help. Bad puffed his chest up. As a fourth-year, and a Hufflepuff at that, he should be aiding his lower classmen, and it wasn’t like he was busy with anything anyways. And so turning around the corner, he walked up to them, calling, “Hi!”

Three sets of heads snapped around, their eyes intensely trained on his body. Bad couldn’t help but pause for a bit at that, but he continued on only a moment later, “You three need any help?”

“N-” The Slytherin boy began, but he was cut off by his Ravenclaw friend, who put a hand up to his mouth.

“Shut up, Dream. We can worry about your pride later,” Turning back to Bad, he nodded, “Yes please. We’re...kinda lost.”

“That’s what I gathered,” Bad chuckled at their antics, “This castle is big, isn't it?”

“Not as much as my house,” The Slytherin boy, Dream, shrugged. The other two nodded in agreement.

Bad stared at them, shocked. What kind of house do they live in? This must be the rich, pureblooded kids he heard other students talk so much about. He sighed, praying that they were not as bad as they were described to be. So far they seemed...nice, hadn’t looked down at him or anything yet. He prayed it would continue like that.

“Okay,” He started again, picking back up the conversation, “Just tell me where you need to go, and I’ll lead you there.”

“Really?” The Ravenclaw boy beamed, and Bad resisted the urge to coo. They might be spoiled kids, but they were still so cute.

“Of course!” He said, looking at all three of them, “So, where to?”

“I have Transfiguration as my first class. Those two have Charms.”

Bad stared at the boy who had said that, the Ravenclaw one again. Transfiguration and Charms...were both on the opposite side of the castle.

How did they even get here?

“Okay, okay,” He took a deep breath, calming himself down. He was the upperclassman, he was supposed to help them. Gesturing, he whirled around and began walking back where he came from, “Just follow me.”

He heard soft footsteps behind him, and briefly looked around. Just the sight of them made him laugh. Like little ducks, they followed him like he was their mother. Once again, Bad actively pushed down the urge to stop and cuddled them. 

He did give a little chuckle though, at their wide, twinkling eyes.

Turning back around, Bad continued forward, and his new ducklings waddled on after him.

\----------------------------

And so, he accidentally gained himself three little friends. They were good muffins, even if they can be a bit pompous at times. Bad didn’t really mind it that much though.

Through his interactions with them over the years, he had learned a lot about each of them. The Ravenclaw boy, Sapnap, who was also the youngest out of the three, was the most outgoing, albeit a bit shy around strangers. One year older than him was Dream, who was more close off, although he radiated a lot more self-confidence than the others.

And then there was George, the Hufflepuff boy.

From Bad’s experience with him, he was a sweet person, albeit quiet and undecisive at times. They hung out a lot, both being in Hufflepuff. Bad would even call him a close friend.

But through all that, there was always something nagging him about the other. 

Whenever they talked, it always sounded like George was holding back his voice. There was a certain unsureness wherever he spoke up, like he was weighing his option carefully. But all that would be fine as well, Bad wasn’t going to judge somebody on how they talked. 

No, there was another thing that bugged him.

“You made muffins?” One day, George came up to him and asked. Of course, Bad had baked his muffins that day, like he did almost any other day. So he handed one to George, who took it gratefully.

“Thanks Bad,” He opened his mouth, and took a bite, then promptly spit it out, screaming, “What-Bad, there’s salt IN IT!”

Bad jumped at the last word came out, feeling his eardrum ringing from the sound. It took him a second to get his balance back, “Huh? Wh-Sorry about that, George. Are you okay-” He cutted short when he saw what the underclassman was doing. With one hand covering his mouth, George started to back away into a nearby corner.

“George?” Bad asked, “Are you okay?”

“I...uhm…” George waved his hand, “Sorry Bad. I-I got to go somewhere.”

Then, he turned in heels and left, leaving Bad thoroughly confused.

There were a couple more times like that, where George would suddenly raise his volume by ten. Often, it would happen whenever he was taken by surprise. Through all those times, Bad’s ears were always slightly hurting by the end of the experience, which he didn’t even know could happen with a human voice.

Finally, out of curiosity, Bad decided to ask him about it. 

It was a bright sunny day, and they were standing together in an almost empty corridor. They had known each other for a year at this point, George being in his third-year. Despite that, the boy only stared at him blankly when he had asked, simply shaking his head, not saying a word.

“Okay…” Bad sighed, slightly disappointed, “It’s alright if you don’t want to tell me. I’m just curious, that’s all.”

He was satisfied to leave it at that. But before he could turn and leave, George grabbed his hand, stopping him. The boy looked down to his feet, seemingly conflicted.

“...George?” Bad whispered. 

He waited patiently for George to collect himself.

“I…” Finally George said, voice barely loud enough to be heard. He pursed his lips, glaring at the ground, “I’m sorry. You deserve to know, with how long you’ve been dealing with it. I’m...not exactly human, Bad.”

He looked up at the older boy, something akin to fear in his eyes. Bad simply nodded in reply, encouraging him to go on.

“I’m…a half-breed. Half-siren, to be exact,” George sighed, “My voice can get loud, loud enough to kill a person if I’m not careful. Usually I can control my volume, but sometimes I get really excited or shocked and...”

“Oh,” Bad only said, not sure how to react to the information. 

“I’m sorry,” George blushed, “Oh god, what am I even thinking? I understand if you don’t want to be friend after this-”

“George-”

“I’m sorry, I mess up-”

“ _George_ ,” Bad said firmly, and the younger boy paused, “No, absolutely not. You’re fine the way you are.”

“And you’re...okay with it?”

“Of course! I don’t mind at all.”

“Oh thank goodness... ”

Bad squeezed his shoulder, “No, thank _you_ for trusting me with this secret, George. It means a lot.”

“When you asked, I guess I thought something along the line of, why shouldn't I?” George beamed, smiling wider than Bad had ever seen him do before. And that alone made him glad that he’d done this, “And yeah, why shouldn’t I? You’re my friend, Bad.”

Friend...

Looking at the muffin, Bad found himself to be the one sniffling instead then.

\----------------------------

Out of all three muffins, Sapnap was always the least confident.

It wasn’t hard to see, especially after the 2 years now that they had known each other for. With how much he joked about why he got into Ravenclaw, there got to be a truth in it somewhere. Bad knew, being the youngest, Sapnap tried his best to live up to his friend’s standard. He worked to get good grades, practice his spells often, and pushed himself to be better at duelling. Anything to make it felt like he belonged in the trio. 

They were studying in the library that day, just the two of them. Sapnap needed to do his homework, and Bad had a Herbology test coming up. He wasn’t worried though, Herbology was one of his better subjects overall, and this particular topic he had memorized.

And so he watched his friend work, frowning when he saw how frustrated Sapnap was gradually becoming.

“Need any help?” Bad asked, leaning over to see what Sapnap was doing. Parchments laid out on the table in front of him, with pictures depicting hands.

“Divination,” Sapnap scowled, glaring at the paper. If looks could kill, well...

Bad smiled, trying to remain cheery for his friend. Looking down at the paper, he said, “Actually, Divination is one of my best subjects.”

“Can you help me?” Instantly, Sapnap brightened up.

“Of course.”

“Okay, so we’re doing palmistry in class,” Sapnap raised up his hand, tracing the lines on his palm with his fingers, “Most of it is easy, but I always confuse between the head line and the life line.”

“That’s alright,” Bad gestured for Sapnap to extend his hand. When the younger did, he began pointing, “Here. It’s easiest to distinguish between the two by length. While they both start from between your index finger and your thumb, the head line goes to the middle of your palm, and is much shorter. The life line will encircle down the area of your thumb.”

“Okay…” Sapnap pulled up a notebook and began writing furiously, muttering to himself, “And the life line represents health and life expectancy. While the head life is for…”

He trailed off. Bad waited for a momentum, then reminded him, “Mental fortitude. Head line for your mental fortitude.”

“Oh yeah, it’s even in the name,” Sapnap scratched his head, smiling sheepishly, “Sorry, I’m dumb…”

“Don’t say that,” Bad nudged him gently, “You’re plenty smart. I’ve seen your DADA grades, so don’t lie.”

“Oh that,” said Sapnap, “You should have seen Dream’s. He’s amazing at it, I’m pretty sure he’d never gotten anything below an O in that class before.”

“Yes, he’s amazing. Anyone could see that,” Bad sighed, “But don't put yourself down because of it. You shouldn’t be comparing yourself to others.”

“I…” Sapnap glanced away, “I’m sorry, I just...kind of do it.”

“You are your own person, Sapnap.”

Sapnap tinkered with the quill in his hand, lost in thought. Bad let him be, returning to his Herbology textbook. He wasn’t paying any attention to it however, and was just waiting for the younger classmen to speak again.

Finally, Sapnap rested his head on his hand, and murmured quietly, “Bad, did you know that George and Dream have never gotten below an ‘Exceeds Expectations’ in their classes before?”

“That’s great for them then,” Bad shrugged, “But it doesn’t have anything to do with you. You know that, right?

“I barely got an A in Herbology last semester.”

“Yes, but you still got it, right?” Bad chuckled, “Sapnap, I failed like 3 subjects when _I_ was in my third-year.”

“Really?” 

“Yep,” Bad smiled, “But here I am, still. You will be fine, Sapnap, even if you fail some tests or get low grades in certain subjects, that’s not a death sentence. So don’t stress over it.”

“Yeah, but I’m a Ravenclaw, you know?” Sapnap fiddled with the tail of his bandana, “People look at me, and they expect high grades and stuff, but that’s just not the area I’m good in.”

“Then what area are you good in?”

“Well, duelling, I guess,” Sapnap smirked, “And common sense, I have more of it than Dream and George, that’s for sure. And I guess I’m pretty good at Charms?”

“Just focus on those areas then,” Bad chuckled, “You are special in your own way, no need to be exactly like the others. What, are you planning on getting a rival too to match Dream?”

“...That’s actually not a bad idea,” Sapnap cocked his head in Bad’s direction, “Bad, will you be my rival?”

“I would love to, my dear Sapnap. But that’s not the point.”

“Yeah,” Sapnap sighed, “I know. Don’t compare yourself to others, yada yada. I understand that, but it’s a feeling, you know? That if I don’t do good, then they’ll just leave me behind.”

“They won’t.”

“You think so?”

“Never,” Grabbing Sapnap’s hands again, Bad held it gently between his own in a hand hug, “George and Dream, they’re loyal friends, Sapnap. They won’t go away just like that.”

“...You’re right,” Sapnap smiled, “They won’t leave.”

“And I won’t as well.” Bad added.

“Yeah…” Sapnap’s voice lowered into a whisper as he said his next words, “Thanks, Bad.”

“You’re welcome, little muffin.”

\----------------------------

Dream was always the most close off. 

Even if George and Sapnap were shy, Dream took it to the next level in being totally private to himself. That didn’t mean he was cold, no, he was one of the sweetest people Bad had ever met.

It just meant he didn’t let himself go that often.

And so, Bad was totally unprepared when he came across Dream crying in the boy’s bathroom, his right hand hugged close to his chest. The Slytherin boy looked up when he heard somebody entering, eyes widening when he recognized who it was, “Bad? What are you doing here?”

“Dream!” Bad shouted, frowning when he saw how Dream flinched at the sound, “Are you okay? Why are you crying?”

“I-I,” Dream turned his head away, “I’m not crying.”

“You are, you little muffinhead,” Bad came over as quickly as he could. Putting a hand on Dream’s back in an attempt to help him calm down, he quietly shushed, “There, there, it’s okay.”

“I’m not crying,” His hands still hugged close to his chest, Dream said in between hiccups, “I’m not. I’m not. I’m-“

He broke down, tears streaming down his face. His hands still hugged tightly to his chest.

“It’s okay. It’s going to be okay,” Bad kept on repeating gently, circling the other’s back, “You’re okay.”

It took several minutes for Dream to calm down. By then, Bad suspected that he’d already been late for his class, but he didn’t really care. There was more pressing matter at hand. He helped Dream stand up straight, spelling a few rolls of tissues over so the other can wipe his tears. But Dream didn’t take the tissue. Instead, he just hid his right hand even more. 

That was when Bad realized something was wrong. 

“Dream?” He went a little closer. Reaching out, Bad nudged Dream’s left hand to reveal away his other one. There was little resistance from the boy as he did, and so Bad didn’t know what to expect. Maybe a minor cut? A new tattoo?

He wasn’t prepared at all.

Bad gasped when he saw what Dream had been hiding. Blood seeped down, dripping onto the ground from his mangled right hand, barely held back by the tissues Dream must have been using to try and stop the bleeding. The once white papers were now wet with blood.

“I-I can’t hold my wand properly, so I can’t cast a healing spell,” Dream began, tripping over his words, “I don’t trust my left hand to do it. And I can’t even use the the wandless version because-”

“Dream, you muffinhead, go to the hospital wing-”

“I can’t-”

“Those looks like serious cuts, let's go-”

“I CAN’T!” Dream screamed. Bad jumped, not prepared for the reaction.

“What? Why?”

“I can’t,” The Slytherin said, looking away. A few more tears rolled down his cheek, “I just can’t,”

“Dream…” Bad sighed, shaking his head, “You got to. This isn’t going to heal on its own. How did you even get it?”

“...In class, we’re practicing duels,” Dream tensed up, “And my hand got hit by a spell. And...uhm…”

“Dream,” Bad said, making his voice sound as stern as possible, “You gotta go to the hospital wing.”

“I don’t want to,” Dream pleaded, “Please, don’t make me.”

Bad shook his head, “...But, why?”

“I…” Dream bit his lips, looking away.

Bad sighed, “Okay, okay. You don’t need to go to the hospital wing. I know healing spells, I can help you. But...” Taking out his wand, Bad examined Dream to see if there were any other injuries. It didn’t seem like it, “You got to tell me what happened? Why you were crying? Why you wouldn’t get help?” ”

“...Okay.”

“Good, now hold out your hand,” Bad raised his wand and murmured, “ _Episkey.”_

Slowly, the wound mended itself, until not even a scar remained. Bad took a tissue and wiped away the rest of the blood.

Then, he looked up at Dream, “Does it hurt anymore?”

“No…”

“Good, now talk.”

The Slytherin gulped, “It’s nothing serious, really…”

“Well, you were crying, so I would have to disagree.”

“I don’t want anybody to know,” Dream glanced down at his feet, “That’s all. It’s a pride thing, I got hit by a silly spell. Techno would laugh-”

“Dream,” Bad cut the boy off, squinting his eyes in disappointment, “Dream, we’ve known each other for 3 years at this point. I know it when you’re lying, you silly muffinhead.”

“Oh...,” Dream lowered his head, “Sorry.”

“So tell me the whole story.”

Dream took a deep breath, “Well, it’s my parents…”

Bad had heard Dream mentioned his relatives in passing before, but he was always protective of that information. They were supposedly an influential pureblood family, and that they had connection to the government. There wasn’t much much else besides that, and certainly not anything personal.

“Yes?” He prodded, “What about them?”

“They...uh...have high expectations,” Dream sighed, wiping away the last of his tears, “I don’t want to let anybody know-They have this way of getting information, and they-” He inhaled, gulping down air, “I-I just don’t want them to know that I lost. And in such a stupid way as well.”

“I’m sure they would understand-”

“No, that’s the thing, they won’t!” Dream bit his lips, “They always want me to be better. Better than everybody else. And I try to be, it’s...it’s exhausting, but…”

“You don’t want to disappoint them,” Bad came closer and pulled his friend into a hug, “Oh Dream…”

“I’m sorry. I know not going to get help was dumb, but...” Dream wrapped his hand around the older boy, “But I... _fuck_.”

“Language,” Bad automatically said.

“Sorry.”

“...It’s really a problem, isn’t it?” Bad sighed as he let go, pulling them out of the hug. Then, he looked up Dream, “Okay, okay, I think I have an idea.”

“Hm?”

“You still have to go to the hospital wings for serious injuries, of course. And I’ll be the one decreeing what ‘serious’ here means, so don’t think you can get away with a broken leg or anything,” said Bad, “But if you have an embarrassing cut or something that you don’t want anybody to know about...you can just come to me. I have some experience in healing spells.”

“Really?” Something akin to hope twinkled in Dream’s eyes. Bad smiled, it seemed that was something he shared with his friends, “You would do that?”

Bad nodded, then proceeded to suffocate as Dream pulled him into a tight hug.

“Thank you,” The Slytherin boy said, “Thank you so much for this, Bad.”

“Of course,” Bad smiled, “Anything for you muffins.”

\----------------------------

“Bad!” From the Hufflepuff table, Bad whirled around to see his friend, Skeppy, stalking at him. He tilted his head questioningly as the other boy glared at him, “Sapnap just turned all my water into mud!”

“Oh dear,” He covered his mouth in disbelief, “Why would he do that?”

“How should I know?” Skeppy shouted, “Maybe it’s the whole deal with Potter being in our house. Maybe it’s because he’s a massive jerk! I don't know and I don’t care!

Bad snickered, “I’ll talk to him after the sorting feast.”

“Good. Don’t get me started on how Dream clogged our dorm toilet. Get your children under control, Bad!”

“I will, I will,” Bad started laughing, but only for a moment. Then, he paused to wonder.

Wait, when did he start thinking of them as his children?

Next to him, Skeppy kept on shouting, “Bad, George’s threatening to blow Tommy’s eardrums out! Do something!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried a new thing this chapter and made a voice for it, which mean the writing style match with the character and not with my usual style. So it’s a lot simpler and, dare I say it, cheesier than usual. Doesn’t really work that well, but welp.
> 
> Also, update will be slowing down a bit. I’m working on a pretty long chapter for later.


	10. The Prankening (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skeppy and Tommy, pranking duo.

“I got it,” said Skeppy, “So these gonna explode when come in contact with water?”

“That’s what it said on the tin, yep,” opening the door and peeking out slightly, Tommy suddenly began yelling, “We got to go. Somebody’s here!”

“Huh!?”

“Go, go, go!” They burst out of the bathroom, but it was too late. There were footsteps right outside the door now. With nowhere to go, Skeppy pointed at the beds in the room, “Under them!”

They scrambled under the beds, pushing their limbs inward so that nobody could spot them.

“This is a very unfortunate turn of events for Skeppy,” Tommy whispered as his face was smashed against his thighs, “I thought this is supposed to be fun-”

“Shush, they’re coming.”

And who were to burst into the room then, but Tubbo. It was just him alone, thankfully. He walked right up to the bed they were under, and, as they held their breath, began dumping a bunch of books onto them.

Tommy resisted the urge to swear as he felt the weight piling up on top of him.

It took several minutes, but finally, Tubbo went into the bathroom. “Here it comes. Here it comes!” Tommy whisper-yelled the moment the door closed.

And then, some time later, a series of loud bangs erupted from inside. The two of them heard Tubbo yelling and cursing, voice muffled through the walls, and promptly burst out laughing.

“Okay, we should get out of here now before he’s done.” Tommy said in between laughter, his limbs pushing out from under the bed.

“Yeah, good idea.”

\----------------------------

“Next is another Ravenclaw friend of ours. A prefect, in fact.” Tommy cleared his throat as he turned into a more formal tone,” Wilbur, my brother, who had  _ laughed _ in my face when I told him I got into detention.”

“What a betrayal,” said Skeppy.

“Yes, though it breaks my heart to say it, my brother had turned against me,” Tommy raised his hands up, “So now we’ll take our revenge!”

Once again, they made their way back to the Ravenclaw dormitory entryway.

“Doesn’t even bother to change the riddle. They seriously need to do a good glow-up to this place,” said Tommy, “Footsteps.”

The door opened.

There was no special equipment this time. Only them, their fist, and their gun-wands, their wands. The two of them went into Wilbur’s room and took a moment to marvel at the sight of it.

“It’s so...clean!” Tommy whispered in awe.

Skeppy scanned the organized bookshelves in the corner, “Everything is in order. How do they live like this?”

And then they remembered that they still have stuff to do, and got back to work. Gesturing to the knob of the door, Tommy asked, “Did you memorize that jinx?”

“Which one?”

“The one we need.”

“Yeah, and which one is that?”

“...The one to make a Biting Doorknob?”

“What?”

“I told you to memorize it!”

“I thought you said  _ you'll  _ be the one who memorizes it.”

“ _ No _ !” Tommy shouted, “Why would I be the one-I’M A THIRD YEAR!”

“SO?”

“I suck at magic! You’re the expert here!”

The back-and-forth lasted for so long, they accidentally lost track of how much time they had. By the time they stopped, Wilbur was already standing at the door, staring at the two of them.

“So,” He began, looking between the two with a raised eyebrow, “Biting Doorknob, huh?”

“Uhm…” Skeppy trailed off, “No? No. Definitely not. No-”

“Lucky for you, I actually know that spell,” He turned to the door and whispered something under his breath. The knob glowed yellow before returning to normal, “There.”

“...And?” Tommy stared at his brother, “What, you’re just gonna do th-”

“Tommy,” Wilbur gestured to the knob, “Why don’t you just go ahead and, just, try it out?”

“...What?” Tommy stood in his spot, “No, why would I? I’m not dumb, I saw you-”

“ _ Tommy _ ,” Wilbur repeated, “Do it. Touch the doorknob. You know you want to.”

He stared at his brother, face dead set, his body blocking the way out. Both Tommy and Skeppy gulped, realizing that there was no way to escape except to do what the Ravenclaw wanted.

“I hate you, Wilbur,” Tommy took a tentative step forward, lifting his hand up, “I hate you so much.”

“Of course,” Wilbur looked to the other prankster, “Skeppy, you’re my upperclassman, so I won’t ask you to do this. You are free to watch however, if you’d like.”

“Uhm…” Skeppy bit his lips. He wanted to close his eyes, to do something. But he found himself unable to look away as Tommy’s hand touched the knob.

“Fuck you Wilbur. Fuck you, I ha-AHH, OH GOD, IT HURTS AHH-”

\----------------------------

“Okay, so the next one…” Tommy held onto the paper with his right hand, his left one being thoroughly bandaged, “Please don’t let it be another Ravencl-Oh gosh no”

“It’s Sapnap, isn’t it?” Skeppy huffed, “I put him on there because he turned all my water into mud during the sorting feast!”

“How terrible!” Tommy gasped, “I- he hadn’t done anything to me yet...but let’s do it anyway.”

“Yeah, here just hoping he doesn’t amputate your other hand or something.”

“Please don’t you jinx it now, Skeppy.”

They decided to do it at dinner this time, because a person was at their most vulnerable when eating, as everyone ought to know. After all, there wasn’t much you could do to defend yourself while your mouth was stuffed with chicken nuggets.

“No, really,” Tommy said when asked about the validity of that by Skeppy, “Sun Tzu said it, so it must be right.”

“You read Sun Tzu now too?” Skeppy squinted his eyes, “Oh come on…”

“No, no, I don’t! Techno keeps mentioning his quotes, that’s all!” Tommy quickly backtracked, “I don’t even know if this is an actual tactic, but he had basically said everything at this point.”

So, at dinner, the two of them made their way to the Ravenclaw table. They each carried with them a packet of Belching Powder. Although you only needed one, there was no penalty for being safe. 

“The plan here is,” Skeppy began, “While I’ll pour the powder into his drink, you need to distract. We don’t want another close call like Tubbo, much less a Wilbur situation.”

“Sounds good to me,” Tommy smirked, “I think I have an idea on what to do to distract him.”

Skeppy nodded, and they both separated to their job. With powder in hand, Skeppy tried to look as casual as possible hanging around the Ravenclaw table. He talked to a couple of students, charming them with his dashing derp face, all while keeping an eye out for what Sapnap was doing.

It didn’t take long for Tommy to enact his distraction plan. With how easy it was to break into the Ravenclaw dormitory, it was practically a cake walk to steal Sapnap’s little toad pet from his room.

Standing at the front of the table, he whistled to get everybody around him to pay attention, then lifted up the toad with his hands, “Hey, I found this! Know who it belongs to?”

“Wha-Tommy!?” He heard Sapnap yelled and instantly let the toad go, watching it hopped down the hall toward the teachers, 

“Oh you’re so dead after this, Tommy!” Sapnap shouted, though he didn’t seem that intimidating running after a toad, “I’m gonna kill you. You’re dead!”

Tommy saw Skeppy pouring all of the powder inside the cup and gave him a thumbs up. They returned to their own table, trying to look as casual as possible.

Their plan was a go.

Sapnap eventually got his toad back, and he made sure to let that known to Tommy through a lot of arson threats. The boy simply shrugged it off, his mind wandering to how Sapnap would react to the belching water.

The moment did come, though it was a closer call then either of them had expected. There were only 8 minutes left of the feast, with people starting to leave their table to go back to the dorm, when suddenly Sapnap began belching very loudly.

The students around him stared in disgust, while Skeppy and Tommy were sitting there at the Gryffindor table, dying of laughter. Although shorter of an outcome than they would have liked it to be, it was still a mission success. Though anything could be considered a success after Wilbur's epic failure.

The professors soon came to escort Sapnap out. As they did, the two prankster have each other a discreet high-five for a job well done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Low effort writing go brrrr because I'm T I R E D from writing about freaking Hogsmeade AHHHH
> 
> Anyway, how are y'all doing? Sorry for having you wait nearly a week for a shoddy chapter haha. Hopefully part 2 of this will be better.


	11. The Prankening (End)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy and Skeppy, pranking duo

After their latest success, the two moved on to their next target.

“Dream…” Tommy mused, “Oh, Dream, Dream, Dream.”

“He clogged our toilet, right?” Skeppy smirked, “This is a revenge both of us will share.”

It was for the irony that they decided to use the Regurgitating Toilet for this one. When flushed, it was supposed to throw back whatever was in the system.

And so, with Tommy looking out at the entrance of the toilet, Skeppy casted the spell. Thankfully, he remembered what it was this time.

“He’s coming, he’s coming,” Tommy rushed in just as he finished the spell, “Hide.”

Tommy muttered a concealment spell and they both hid in the corner of the toilet. After a moment, Dream walked in, Techno beside him. 

Tommy cursed, they hadn’t anticipated this variable. 

And, to make it worse, Dream refused to use the toilet. Instead, the two Slytherin just stood there talking to each other, planning out some kind of strategy to catch somebody.

And they did that for 15 minutes!

Finally Skeppy must have had enough, because Tommy saw him sneaking away, thankfully still concealed. He tried to stop his older partner, but there was nothing he could do except stand there and watch as Skeppy went to the nearest toilet to the two Slytherin. Carefully positioning himself behind its door so he wouldn’t get hit by anything, the older prankster casted a spell. Whatever it was, it flushed the toilet, making the Regurgitating jinx activate.

And well, it did what it said on the cover. Spewing out the content of the toilet out, it shot a stream of shits and pee, among other things, directly at the two Slytherin talking by the sink.

But there was a miscalculation in their plan.

“ _Protego_!” Dream yelled as soon as he turned around and noticed what was happening. His hand went, not even holding a wand. A shield erected between them and the toilet fluid. A second later, Techno casted _Repello Inimicum,_ but there was no need. The crap hitted the shield Dream had casted, splashing against it, then slid down to the floor once the shield fell off. Through it all, the two of them remained completely clean.

Shit, of course, these two freaks stood around practicing duelling all day long. Of course they wouldn’t have any problem blocking an attack going right at their face. Tommy held his breath. Hopefully, the concealment will keep them safe.

“Huh,” Dream said casually, stepping over the pool of substances on the floor, “That’s strange. Some kind of plumbing malfunction?”

“No…” Techno squinted his eyes at the toilet. Tommy watched his brother, fearful of what he was about to say, “I just saw that toilet got flush. Somebody’s in here with us.”

“What?” Instantly, Dream raised his wand again, “Where?”

“Hm,” Techno lifted his own wand, looking around. Tommy shot an alarmed look at Skeppy as the two of them both retreated into a corner, trying to make themselves as noticeable as possible, “I think I saw…”

He glanced down at the floor, and Tommy noticed for the first time the marks Skeppy had left. The other must have gotten some of the crap on his shoes, because there was a trail leading right to where they were standing.

He cursed under his breath, then realized what he just did. But by then, it was too late.

Techno’s ears perked up, and he smirked. Flicking the wand in his hand, he casted a non-verbal spell. Tommy didn’t even had the time to call his brother a fucking show-off before the toilet liquid on the floor was shot directly at them.

“Would you look at that,” Came the bored, monotone voice of his brother.

Tommy glanced down at his hand and realized that, while he was still concealed, the liquid sprayed onto him was not. And so in addition to smelling absolutely horrid, he also looked like liquid floating in a vaguely human shape, not a very effective hiding method. 

He looked to his right, where Skeppy previously was, and screamed when he saw a sewer monster coming at him. It was only after a few seconds that he figured out that it was Skeppy, but by then, the damage was done.

“That voice…” Dream frowned, “Tommy?”

“Probably,” sighed Techno, not even a little bit surprised.

“Uhm…” Tommy called. No use hiding it anymore, “Hello, gentlemen!”

“Hi!” Beside him, Skeppy also said.

“Do you like the new...features we install in this toilet?”

“Please don’t kill us!”

“Well,” Dream crossed his arms together, “I don’t know...how are you feeling, Techno?”

“Like dropkicking a child.” Came the prompt reply, “Children works too.”

“Of course, of course,” With a cheery smile, Dream turned back to the two of pranksters, “You have 3 seconds.”

\----------------------------

“Okay…” Sitting on the infirmary bed, Tommy casted his eyes downward, looking at who they would have to prank next, “Uhm...Sapnap, we already did that...Tubbo, no...Oh, here! It’s...Tech...no.”

“Yeah, no, we’re not doing that again,” Skeppy said from the next infirmary bed.

“Agreed,” Tommy took a feather quill from the bedside table and crossed out the name.

\----------------------------

Alone in the middle of a corridor, Tommy took a look at the bottom of the list, “It’s Professor Snape.”

“I think we all know why,” Skeppy sighed, “But do you need an outlet to vent your traumas?”

“Do I?” Tommy groaned, “He gave me detention for 6 weeks once.”

“He calls me the dumbest student he’d ever have the displeasure of teaching.”

“A Slytherin once pushed me over in his class and he punished _me_.”

“Once he gave all the Gryffindor in the class a potion to drink. It made our ears red for a week.”

“Well, this is a no brainer,” Tommy folded his arms, “And we need an extra painful punishment for him, don’t you think?”

“Yes, I agree to that!”

“Then,” Tommy smirked, “How about this?”

The two of them wore their best blending in clothes to the dinner feast that day, looking as much like the other students as possible. They even spelled their hair into another colour, a much more ordinary dark brown. 

But though normal they may look, they were on a special mission.

Tommy trained his eyes on the potion professor making sure that he didn’t suspect a thing when they sneaked up close next him, “Okay, do it on 3.”

“Yep,” Skeppy readied his wand.

“...1…”

“...2…”

“...3!”

“ _Tarantallegra_!” Skeppy shot the spell right at the teacher, and then they both took off running.

Turning his head back mid sprint, Tommy caught the sight of Professor Snape standing up, his legs moving in irregular patterns. The Dancing spell had worked. The two of them went into the crowd, blending in as just any other students. With their hair brown coloured, they looked just like any other dark haired students there were here. As long as they don’t reveal their face to the teacher, they’d be safe. 

Of course, there were also a million pairs of eyes trained on them, but it only mattered if Professor Snape hadn’t seen who did it.

“WHO?” The teacher bellowed, his legs moving in a wild breakdance. The students started laughing, pointing and sticking their tongues out at him, much to Snape’s dismay. Tommy began to smirk, but he stooped the moment he noticed Snape’s eyes meeting his. The teacher must have realized, because he was dancing right toward them. He only hoped the professor hadn’t recognized his face.

“Oh no,” It seemed that Skeppy had noticed it too now, “He’s coming, Tommy.”

“Let’s go!” Grabbing the elder's hand, Tommy started pushing his way through the crowd. But Snape was starting to dance closer, the students parting ways for him out of fear.

He was going to catch up. Tommy gulped, his eyes shutting in despair.

THUMP

A sound came from behind them, and the two pranksters both stopped in their track, turning around to see what was happening.

Snape was on the floor, his legs still dancing as he glared up at the person who had knocked him over. Next to him, Tubbo gave the teacher an apologetic smile, “Oh, sorry, professor! I didn’t see you there.”

He then spun his head around to give a discreet nod to Tommy, who nodded back in thanks.

This was better than anything Tommy was expecting. As they ran through the crowd, there were many times Snape came close to them. Thankfully, somebody was always there before he could fully catch. Tommy managed to catch glimpses of who had helped now and then, and he was shocked at the familiar faces.

Sapnap, dish full of food in hand, barreling straight into Professor Snape and sending both him and the food flying back. A stray turkey leg managed to hit the potion teacher in the face.

“Sorry Professor,” The Ravenclaw gave a cheeky grin, “I was paying attention to the food.”

He winked at the two pranksters as they ran past him.

“Okay, who wants a discount? Raise your hands!” Tommy heard Wilbur shouted to the crowd of students, who all did raise their hands, making it even harder to see the two pranksters amidst the crowd.

At the very least Dream and Techno had got the gall to be discreet about it. The two of them both pulled out their wand and casted a layer of ice on the floor, leaving Snape to slip and slide as he chased after them. Tommy was especially thankful, considering the fact that they were both Slytherin, going against their house professor.

They ran all the way to the Grand Staircase, where it seemed that Snape had stopped his pursuit of them. Tommy panted, hands on his knees, “This was the most exercise I’ve done in a long while.”

“You can say that again,” Skeppy coughed.

Together, they made their way up the stairs to the Gryffindor dormitory. They would be safe there, at least for a while. 

But in front of the painting leading into their dorm, there was a familiar group of people blocking their way. Both tired, neither Skeppy nor Tommy can run to escape, much less try and force their way through the group.

“What do we have here?” Wilbur began, clapping his hands together, “You two have made a right mess of yourself.”

“Tommy, please don’t ever put fireworks in my shower again,” Tubbo sighed, disappointment clear his voice.

“I did say you’re going to suffer,” Sapnap smirked at them, wand readied in his hand.

Techno shrugged, “I don’t even know what I’m doing here, but I heard something about bullying...”

“Yeah,” Dream chuckled, elbowing his rival, “Not any day we get to beat up Tommy. Twice.”

Tommy looked between them. Seeing their merciless face, he put his hands up in surrender, and Skeppy did the same beside him. 

At least, Professor Snape wasn't here.

“Alright then, guys,” Wilbur raised his wand, “I think it’s time we get our revenge!”

\----------------------------

“So why _did_ you decide to help us with Professor Snape?” Tommy asked as he tilted his head, letting Tubbo wipe away the last remain of green paint on his face, “Wouldn’t it be better if I get detention, on top of everything else?”

“Oh, it’s simple really,” his friend chuckled, “We just really hated his guts.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, welcome to another chapter of BAD WRITING and MEMES. Hope you enjoy your stay


	12. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phil loved his family.

It was no secret that Phil loved his family.

His friends knew that, his classmates knew that. At this point, the entirety of house Hufflepuff knew that, with how much he rambled on about them. 

Their parents were amazing people, caring for them like they were their own blood children. His brothers, despite all their teasings and mocks, would do anything for each other. He was proud to call them his family.

But sometimes…

Sometimes they just get a little much.

Phil sighed, looking up from his book to see Wilbur and Tommy standing before him, “What is it?” He asked them, forcing down the “this time” he was about to add at the end.

Wilbur huffed, crossing his arms and looking away, “Please tell Tommy to stop being annoying.”

“What?” Their youngest brother screamed, scaring a few other students seating at another table in the library, “ _I’m_ being annoying? You’re the one removing all my decorations and then yell at me!”

“Decoration?” Wilbur exclaimed, “You spelled a bunch of sparkling pebbles to float in my room, how the fuck is that decorations?”

“It’s supposed to be a _gift_ , Wilbur!”

“Don’t pretend like you didn’t do that to annoy me!”

“Okay, okay.” Phil waved his hands between them, driving the two apart, “What actually happened? Tell me from the beginning.”

“I’ll tell you what happened,” Wilbur said, quickly batting away Tommy’s attempt to protest, “I was minding my own business, walking back to my room after a...something. And then when I arrive, opening the door into my dorm, what do I see? A bunch of floating rocks, everywhere. Over my bed, over the table. Plus Tommy’s so bad at casting some weren’t even floating, they were just lying on the floor. I nearly stab my toe on one!”

“Okay, you're exaggerating this,” Tommy interrupted, “I only wanted to console you after your loss against Schlatt, so I thought to myself, what would I like in my room? A bunch of precious glowing crystals, of course! It was a present. A present that you ungratefully threw away!”

“Ungratefully? I beg to differ, Tommy.”

“You’re just butthurt after you lost your customers to Schlatt.”

“This has nothing to do with-”

“You two!” Phil clapped his hands together, getting both of their attention, “Stop yelling, this is the library. Look, it’s not a big deal. Just clean up the mess, Tommy. And Wilbur, apologize for yelling.”

“What?” Tommy yelled, “No!”

“Yeah, no way.” Wilbur put his hand on his hips, “Although Tommy should still clean the mess. I think that’s fair.”

“Fuck you!”

“Why do you disagree, Tommy?”

“Because it’s a present! It’s your problem now, that’s how it works!”

“...Are you stupid?”

“Fuck. You!”

That was apparently the last straw for the librarian, who stormed in while they were both still yelling and threw the two of them out. Now, once again in peaceful silence, Phil sighed and tiredly massaged his chest.

He loved his family. He really did.

\----------------------------

After a few days, they went from anger to stone cold silence. From the Hufflepuff table, Phil could only sit there as he watched the two of them send each other glares and scowls. It was the silent treatment times two.

He knew the routine by now. As always, he just needed to get them to talk to each other. That was all. Taking a deep breath, Phil exhaled slowly.

This should be easy by now.

Part one of the plan was to get them in one place, preferably private, hopefully without volume restriction like the library. Conveniently, Phil, being the Hufflepuff’s head boy, was allowed use of the prefect’s bathroom. Nobody was ever using it anyways, it was the perfect spot. 

Of course, while Wilbur _was_ a prefect, Tommy wasn’t, so he had to give his youngest brother the password to the bathroom, a decision that he was probably going to regret later. Phil reminded himself to notify the other prefects on password changing.

Worryingly, the first thing Tommy did when he entered the bathroom was to try and jump into the giant bathtub in the middle. Phil quickly grabbed onto the collar of his brother’s robe, preventing him from moving any closer to the edge. “No,” he told Tommy.

“You can’t just put that in front of my face and expect me not to go in! What kind of sick joke is that?” Protested Tommy.

“It’s not a sick joke. You’re just gonna stand here until Wilbur arrives.”

“W-Wilbur is coming?” Tommy lunged away, but Phil held on even tighter to his collar to prevent him from going anywhere.

“Yep.”

Tommy tried to run away a few more times before Wilbur came, arriving just on the dot. He nodded when he saw Phil, then paused when he saw the other person in the room with them.

“Oh no.” He said.

“Oh yes,” Phil corrected, “You two needs to sort out this mess. I’m not going to stand for it.”

“Well,” Wilbur folded his hands, “...Look, I’m willing to compromise with Tommy-”

“Oh really?” Tommy rolled his eyes.

“-But he’s gonna have to change his attitude first.” Wilbur glared, “From now on, Tommy. Ask for permission before going into my room. And I don’t want any more surprises.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Tommy protested, “I’m sorry you’re such a boring old man, but the rest of us don’t live like that, alright?”

“Tommy, I’m not going to say it again.”

“Then don’t. I do not agree to these terms.”

“ _Tommy_.”

“Fuck you, Wil!”

“Alright!” Phil stepped in between them, interrupting before it got too much out of control, “Tommy, I think what Wilbur said is reasonable. Just ask him before you do anything, okay? Be considerate.”

“But-”

“Tommy,” Phil repeated, “Be fucking considerate. It’s not that hard.”

“...I just want to surprise him.” Tommy visibly wilted, and Phil had to force down the urge to comfort his brother, “I didn’t think it would turn out that bad…”

“Yes, but things can go wrong sometimes,” Phil sighed, “Clean up the mess, Tommy. And Wilbur-”

“I’m not apologizing for yelling at him,” Wilbur snarled, “ No way.”

“Would you like it if I yell at you?” Phil questioned, already knowing the answer when Wilbur opened his mouth to argue, and then shut it again, “He didn’t mean any harm. Just tell him not to do it again, patiently.”

“...Tommy, don’t go into my room. Ever,” said Wilbur, turning to stare directly at his youngest brother, “Surprises can be good, but it depends on who you’re surprising. Think carefully next time before you do something.”

“Well that seems a bit harsh-” Tommy began, cutting off when he saw the look Phil sent his way, “Okay, fine...I’ll do that.”

“And I apologize for yelling at you.”

“Good,” Phil clapped the two on the back, “Easy, isn’t it?”

The two of them glanced the other way, blushing. 

“Y-Yeah,” finally Wilbur said, “Sorry for being a bother.”

Beside him, Tommy nodded.

Phil looked at them, his two baby brothers, and he beamed. Despite being absolute brats sometimes, he knew they were mature enough to sort this out. They just needed a little help. Something he would gladly provide.

“It’s not a problem.” he smiled, and began leading them out of the bathroom, “Just reasonably talk it out next time, okay?”

“Alright.”

“Yeah, okay.”

\----------------------------

Opening the door to his room a few days later, Phil wasn’t expecting any changes. And for the most part, there weren’t any. His books were still by the sofa as he’d left them. The materials on the desk were all where they were supposed to be. His bed was, as always, made. A picture of his family laid by it on a cupboard.

Everything was the same. Everything, except…

He stood there in shock, staring at the rocks formation floating in the middle of his room. Sparkling, they spelt out the word “Thanks”. That was it. No notes, no explanation. Just thanks. 

From the lack of stray stones on the floor, Tommy probably had somebody helping him. Gritting his teeth, Phil pulled out his wand, preparing to cast a counterspell. 

He loved his family. He really did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One week for a short filler chapter with a sucky abrupt ending. Imma classify this as a bruh moment.
> 
> Don't worry guys, I'll redeem myself after Halloween. There are stuff next month.


	13. From the Outside Looking In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our three favourite Ravenclaws talk about the things that are happening lately.

“So what are your thoughts on the recent news?”

Thunder boomed outside, rain falling onto the window. It was just the two of them in the common room that night, everybody else busy at dinner. As Sapnap paused and looked up from his writing, he met eyes with his house prefect, “What do you mean?”

Wilbur shrugged. Turning back to browsing through their common room’s bookshelves, he continued, “You know, with all the craze about the Boy Who Lived and his little trio?”

Sapnap twirled the quill in his hands in contemplation. Now that he thought about it, he’d overheard from people some of the things that were happening, “And the troll that broke into the school on Hallowe’en?”

“Exactly.”

“Well,” the younger tilted his head, “I’m not surprised, really. There are bound to be weird things happening when we got Harry Potter in our school.”

Wilbur nodded, “Too bad we didn’t get him.”

“Well, I think everybody kinda expected Gryffindor,” Sapnap chuckled, “That’s where the heroes go, after all.”

“I guess so.”

“We’re just those smarty kids with good grades in the background.”

“Well, I mean _you_ got in here, so smart is a stretch-”

“Oi, what is that supposed to mean!?” Sapnap pointed a finger accusingly at Wilbur, “You-”

“Hey guys!” Another voice yelled, interrupting their conversation. Sapnap and Wilbur stared at each other, then simultaneously whirled their head around to the door of the common room. There, just entering through, was Tubbo, surprisingly without Tommy following behind him.

He glanced between the two of them, “What are you two talking about?”

“Nothing much, only the most recent sensation at this school,” Wilbur laughed and gestured him in. Sapnap huffed, but still reluctantly scooched over so that Tubbo could sit next to him.

“Oh yeah, Potter, of course. He just fought that troll in the dungeon, right?”

“News spread fast, huh?” Sapnap cocked his head

“Everybody’s talking about it. You two would know if you go outside the dormitory for more than 10 minutes.”

“Homework,” Sapnap automatically replied.

“Research,” said Wilbur, “On moles.”

“Whatever you say,” Tubbo laughed, “Anyway, Potter supposedly saved some girl, Hermione or whatever. And then the teachers came before they got seriously hurt.”

“Really? I didn’t know the teachers came,” Sapnap blinked, “I heard Potter defeated it himself.”

Tubbo shrugged, “Yeah, some people are exaggerating things.”

“And your information is trustworthy, Tubbo?” Wilbur chuckled as he turned back to the book shelves, pulling from it a few more scrolls.

“Of course!” Tubbo pouted, “I asked plenty of people. Including, wait for this... _Potter_ himself!”

He glanced between them silently, hands outstretched as if he was waiting for a reaction. Unfortunately, they paid him no mind, Wilbur continued searching the shelves, while Sapnap turned back to writing his homeworks.

Face falling, Tubbo crossed his arms and looked away. Noticing that, Sapnap decided to take pity on him. Chuckling, he asked, “You really think we would believe that?”

“It’s true!” He protested, “The whole story, right out of Potter’s own mouth!”

“How did you get him to tell?”

“I...uh...just ask.”

Sapnap raised an eyebrow, eyes still trained on his homework, “Tubbo, come on…”

“Really!” Said Tubbo, “...Okay, so maybe I didn’t _just_ ask him, but it was close to it.”

“What did you do?”

“I...might have told him I work for the school’s newspaper.”

Sapnap glanced up from his work, “Tubbo, our school doesn’t have a newspaper.”

“I know that,” Tubbo rolled his eyes, “Obviously. But a first-year probably wouldn’t.”

“...That’s kind of a shitty thing to do, Tubbo, I’m not gonna lie.”

“It was Dream’s idea, not mine,” Tubbo shrugged, “I asked him how I could get someone to talk, and he came up with ten different ways to do it. Half of them are from war tactic books he read to defeat Techno, so trust me on that this is the least extreme thing I could do.”

“You came to _Dream_ for advice, of all people?” Wilbur piped up from where the shelves were, “I thought I taught you better than that, Tubbo.”

“Sorry,” Tubbo simply said, sitting back against the common room couch. 

Beside him, Sapnap leaned in and whispered, “I bet it’s actually your idea.”

“Of course it is,” Tubbo whispered back.

Sapnap nodded, then looked to Wilbur, waiting as if to see if he had caught that. It didn’t seem like, since the oldest Ravenclaw merely gestured to Tubbo, his back turned to them, “Go on, Tubbo, what’s the story here?”

Tubbo smiled. Adjusting himself into a more comfortable position, he began, “So you know how we all got to go back to our dormitory after Professor Quirrel saw a troll, right? But Potter and another friend of his, the Weasley kid sneaked out instead-”

“What? They can do that without getting into trouble?” Sapnap spittered, “That is just not fair. I got 2 weeks of detention because I sneaked out _once_ -”

“Okay, Sapnap,” Tubbo nodded at him, frowning a bit at the interruption, “Anyway, the reason they even sneaked out in the first place is because another friend of theirs, this girl named Hermione Granger, was away during the announcement. They wanted to make sure she’s alright-”

“Aw, how sweet,” Sapnap said boredly, “They really do be sim-”

“Shut up, Sapnap,” Wilbur snapped, “Tubbo’s trying to talk, you idiot.”

“Okay, okay. Sorry”

Tubbo cleared his throat, “So Potter and Weasley went to find Granger. They found her in the girl’s bathroom, locked up with the troll. Apparently, they manage to distract it long enough by throwing things at it, so that the teachers came and rescued them.”

He looked at the two of them, waiting for a response. Sapnap was the first to talk, “That’s it?”

Tubbo nodded.

“That was...somewhat anticlimactic,” Wilbur coughed into his hand awkwardly, “Is there no, like, big battle? Heroic saves? Sacrifices?”

“No, they just throw things until the teachers come and subdue it,” Tubbo shrugged, “That’s it…maybe.”

Wilbur raised his eyebrow, “...What do you mean by that?”

“Okay, so I might be reading too much into this, but,” Tubbo bit his lips, “There is this weird thing, that Potter does, whenever he’s talking about that last part. He looks away a bit, his voice got this weird hesitation. I’m not an expert, but I think he’s hiding the full story.”

“That’s possible,” Sapnap nodded, “Maybe the teachers didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, so they told him to lie.”

Wilbur brought his hand up to his chin, frowning, “Yeah, but _why_?”

“Well…” Sapnap tilted his head, “Did he say which teachers came for him, Tubbo?”

“Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, and Professor Quirrel,” nodded Tubbo, “Why? Is there anything about them?”

Sapnap twirled his quill, “Nothing came to mind...Wilbur?”

“Well, I don’t know about the other two,” Wilbur shrugged, “But Snape…”

Tubbo scowled, “It’s kinda creepy to hear you drop the ‘Professor’.”

“Yeah, I feel like he’s gonna come in here and beat us up or something,” shrugged Sapnap. Then, he paused, “Is he? Does he have that kind of power?”

“I usually drop the ‘Professor’ when I’m not with him,” Wilbur shrugged, “He’d done too much shitty stuff for that title. You naive kids probably wouldn’t know-”

Sapnap glared at him, “I’m only 1 year below you, jerkhead.”

“-But Snape, on top of being a pretty horrible teacher, had a history with the dark arts,” Wilbur grimaced, “There’s a rumour that he used to be a death eater working for Voldemort.”

At the name, the room’s temperature suddenly dropped a couple degrees. Tubbo shivered. He huddled closer to Sapnap, who grumbled, “Could have warned us before you said that…”

“Sorry, sorry. You-Know-Who,” Wilbur chuckled. Coming over to the fireplace, he fed it a couple of logs. It crackled, subsiding, then flaring back up again, “It’s just a rumour, but it does sound like Snape. If it was up to me, I would have kicked him out a long time ago, but the headmaster…”

“Love Snape, we know,” Sapnap grumbled under his breath, “He stayed, even though all the students here outside of Slytherin hate his guts.”

“They seriously couldn’t find a better potion teacher?” Tubbo asked.

“Guess not.”

Wilbur sighed, “Yeah, he’s just a horrible teacher overall, add to his association with the dark art. If I were Potter, I would be careful around him.”

“I think he already is. Got this dark look on his face whenever he mentioned Professor Snape,” said Tubbo.

“That’s good then, I guess,” Wilbur returned to the bookshelves and pulled out one final book, before settling them all down on the table. Looking at it, Tubbo could spot, among depictions of rats and moles, a book on the lookout sign of dark arts.

“Honestly, I’m pretty sure things like this will keep happening as long as we have Potter in our school,” Sapnap sighed as he went back to doing his homework, “What’s with the prophecy and dark lords. A whole lotta trouble, if you ask me.”

“It’s amazing though, isn’t it?” marvelled Tubbo, “We might be witnessing history.”

“Maybe,” Sapnap nodded.

“This will be a long year, isn’t it?” Wilbur sighed, shaking his head. Coming over, he sat beside Tubbo, “I’m too old for this-”

“Again, only one year between us, Will.”

“I’m old. I’m frail,” Tubbo leaned over and batted him playfully. Wilbur ignored it, continued on talking even as he opened up a book to read, “I can’t do this anymore. Be sure to carry on my legacy after I’m gone.”

“No,” Sapnap retorted just as Tubbo also said, “Okay, Wilbur.”

The three of them looked at each other, then burst out into giggles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going for a scholarly meeting vibe but it ended up being like three friends gossiping during sleepover. But ya know what? idc
> 
> Sorry for those who don't like dialogue-heavy writing.
> 
> Anyway, this will probably be the last chapter of the month. Not planning anything on Halloween.


	14. All Hallows' Eve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The troll WAS in the dungeon.

When Professor Quirrell interrupted the Hallowe’en feast, coming in and screaming warnings of trolls, Phil already suspected that things were going to shit. 

That thought was only hammered in when, soon after, Headmaster Dumbledore ordered the prefects to lead their house back to their dormitory.

Now Phil was a head boy, not a prefect, but that only meant he got even more responsibility suddenly dumped onto him. With the announcement came absolute chaos as everybody freaked out over the news. Students ran around, trying to get out of the door, bumping and falling onto the floor. Yelling, there was a lot of yelling. 

It was like everyone abruptly turned into Tommy. 

Staring at the pleading faces of his house’s prefects, Phil merely sighed.

\----------------------------

With the students all back in the Hufflepuff dormitory, Phil took a deep breath and looked around the empty corridor. Just in case, the professors had also tasked him with checking the hallway and making sure that nobody was wandering around. It was only a quick check-up, he wasn’t supposed to be out here for long, and Phil wasn’t going to be complaining about that. The less time he needed to spend outside, where he could be attacked by a troll any second, the better. 

So, dashing down the hallway, Phil scanned every nook and cranny of the castle as fast as he could. It worked for a good while, he cleared most of the rooms in the hallway, with the troll thankfully nowhere to be seen.

The problem came when he ran by the bathroom.

As he did with any other room, Phil peeked inside the boy’s bathroom and took a look around, sighing in relief when he could see nobody. But before he could turn to leave, there came a noise from one of the stalls. 

And walking out of it shortly afterward...

“Techno?” Phil yelped.

“Heh!” his younger brother jumped, whirling around to look at him.

“What are you doing here? You should be back in your dormitory,” Phil checked the corridor outside. There was still no troll. Hopefully it was far away from this part of the castle. 

“I was just using the bathroom…” said Techno, raised eyebrow showing his confusion, “What? Did I miss something big? Again?”

Phil looked back at his brother, “There’s a troll out and about in the castle, Techno. I can’t believe you didn’t catch any of that shit.”

“I was in here this whole time. Skeppy gave me a vomit candy.”

“And you ate it?”

“There was some mild peer pressuring,” Techno sighed. From his robe, he pulled out a wand, “Okay, where’s the troll? Let’s go kill it.”

“We’re not killing anything,” Phil whirled his head to the corridor, half-expecting the troll to be there, summoned by Techno’s call, “You just need to get back to your common room. Come on-.”

“No, I gotta wash my hand first.”

“Techno!”

“Hygiene, Phil.”

Techno took his time. Through the whole thing, Phil was guarding outside the entrance of the bathroom, wand in hand. The hallway felt eerie quiet. Normally, even at night, there were still the sound of younger students trying to sneak out or the prefects patrolling the hall. There was still life in this corridor. Now, it was just...silence. Silence, except for the dripping of water behind him.

Which stopped after a few minutes, and soon Techno walked outside to the entrance, “So…”

“Let’s go,” Phil immediately said, “We gotta get out of here. Fast.”

He grabbed his brother by the hand and began dragging him down the corridor. Techno gave him an unimpressed look, but didn’t say anything.

The halls passed by in a blur as Phil went on autopilot, letting his body remember the way to go. Only when the warmly lit corridors of the upper floor slowly transitioned into the cool green hue of the dungeon hallways did he finally stopped and took in his surroundings. 

Now that they were down at the dungeon, with its secret passage and confusing layout, it became much harder to navigate. “You should probably go back,” Techno said as Phil took another turn into an unfamiliar path, “I know the way around here, I’ll be fine.”

“No, I'm not letting you go alone when there’s that fucking troll running around.”

“Pretty sure I can take care of it but okay,” said Techno, his tone getting increasingly bored, “Turn back, we went the wrong way again.”

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Phil turned around. He was just about to start retracing his step when something suddenly made him pause. A peculiar noise.

He perked his ear up, trying to see if he could hear it again. There was silence, and for a moment, he thought he’d only imagined it.

But it came again, clearer this time. It sounded like a scream.

His first instinct was to go toward the sound, investigate whatever it was. Someone could be needing help, and he was responsible for taking care of the students, especially in times like this.

Hurriedly, Phil turned back and began heading the way he was going before, trying to determine the source of where the sound came from. For a moment, he completely forgot whose hand he was still holding onto, and was subsequently dragging along with him. 

Only a yelp from his brother brought him back. Phil jumped in surprise, quickly letting go of Techno’s hand. 

“Sorry for that,” he said, giving an apologetic smile.

“It’s alright…” Techno said, “What’s up? You pause there for a second.”

“It’s-” Phil cut off, suddenly remembering that he still needed to lead Techno back to his dormitory, which means that going off to god knows where to investigate a sound wasn’t exactly a wise choice. He should just bring Techno back, making sure his little brother was all in one piece.

But somebody could be in danger, a small part of his brain reminded him. 

Phil gritted his teeth, forcing his head to turn back to the direction of the Slytherin dorm. His brother’s safety was more important, “It’s nothing, follow me-”

Another scream came abruptly, interrupting him. High-pitched, and much much louder than the last one, it was as if whoever making the sound was getting more desperate. Phil brought his hands up to cover his ears, cringing at the sound.

“Come on,” he gestured to Techno, “We need to go back.”

Techno tilted his head, “You-You’re not going to see what that is?”

Phil raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean?”

“Wha-” Techno frowned at him, “That’s a _scream_ , Phil. Somebody needs help.”

“Yes, but we need to prioritize getting you back to the dorm.”

“That’s pretty cold, Phil, I’m not gonna lie,” Techno shrugged, “Not saying that’s a bad thing, but…”

“Techno, bud,” Phil put a hand on his brother’s shoulder,”Let’s just fucking go.”

“Uh...sure,” Techno looked back behind them, toward the direction where the scream had come from.

Phil sighed, “I promise to go check later. For now-”

The floor rumbled, cutting Phil short. Instinctively, he nudged Techno behind him, trying to shield his brother from whatever it was that managed to shake up the ground. 

Pulling out his wand, he pointed it in front of them. 

For a moment, they just waited.

Then, there was a growl, echoing through the empty hall. The floor rumbled again. Phil glanced down at his feet, trying to position them in a way that would maintain his balance. In doing so, he took his eyes off the corridor ahead of him.

But he was brought back by Techno, frantically patting on his shoulder. Turning to his brother, Phil saw Techno pointing ahead. He followed the direction, and jumped at what he saw. 

The ground beneath them shook once more by the force of the troll’s stomps as it turned around the corner, one hand dragging along a giant wooden club. Phil cringed. Despite the dim lighting, he could still make out what its lumpy head and wart-covered toe. Bloodshot eyes glowed in the dark, savage, beast-like. And the smell…

Oh god the smell. It was like a sewer on a hot humid day. Phil wanted to gag.

It didn’t seem to have noticed them, more distracted by what it was holding. While one of his hands was wielding a club, the other gripped tightly onto...something. Phil gasped, eyes widening when he realized what was there. Within the troll’s grasp, a limp body, green Slytherin robe peaking out, torn and tattered. To make things worse, it was probably a younger student, judging by their small statue. Phil remembered the scream, and stared in horror at the body. Would this have happened if he went to investigate the sound right away? 

The urge to gag grew.

A hand pulled onto his robe. Phil whirled his head, sighing in relief when it was just his brother. 

“What should we do?” Techno whispered.

For a moment, Phil froze.

Then he snapped back to reality. Right, he was still the older one, Techno would be looking at him for instruction. He couldn’t be panicking now.

“Run,” He hissed, turning around. The troll had become aware of the presence, looking up from its hand. “We need to get back to your dorm as fast as possible.” 

Techno nodded, before running ahead. But his hand, Phil noticed, was holding onto his wand. He had been fully prepared to fight.

Shooting one last look at the troll, Phil gritted his teeth, and followed after his brother.

\----------------------------

As they dashed through the cold, dark hallways of the dungeon, Techno spared a look back behind him. He couldn’t see the troll, but its stomping were enough indicator that it was chasing after them. He turned around the corner, giving Phil a quick check to see if his older brother was still following behind him.

Phil was bothered with all this, he knew. One look at him, and Techno recognized that. Maybe he should have pressured Phil more, when they had first heard the scream. Maybe then the Slytherin student would have been fine.

But then again, there was the possibility of Phil going off to investigate and getting both himself and the student hurt, so that option didn’t sound appealing either.

Well, they couldn’t do anything about it now. Techno sighed, and continued running. All of the sudden, the stomping got louder, and he whirled his head around, catching a glimpse of the giant troll. Its head reached the ceiling even as it leaned forward to charge at them. It swung its club, and despite the distance, still managed to reach up to where Phil was.

Immediately, Techno grabbed his brother’s arm, pulling him out of the club’s way at the last second.

They hurried around the corner, the troll once again disappearing from view. Breathing heavily, Techno was forced to pause to catch his breath. He coughed, head hurting from exhaustion. Thankfully, the passage was starting to become more familiar, they were near the dormitory. 

“Thanks Techno,” Beside him, he heard Phil panted out. Techno nodded back, but couldn’t quite manage an answer. A pat on the shoulder from Phil showed that he understood. 

But their time quickly ran short. The troll made their way around the corner, its eyes rolling around before locking onto them. Techno stared back at it, already regretting his decision to stop. The tiredness was catching up, his legs were sore, his eyes blurry. He glanced at Phil, pursing his lips when he saw his brother leaning against the wall, also panting hard. It seemed like neither of them had the energy to go on.

In his hand still, was his wand, and Techno raised it just in case he could not bring himself to run away. His grip was unstable, hand trembling, but he still stood his ground as the troll made its way closer.

It roared, leaning forward and running at them. Techno squinted his eyes at the troll, ignoring his brother’s scream. 

“ _Flipendo,”_ He panted. The spell shot out of his wand. Hitting the troll, it sent the creature flying backward into the wall. 

Techno sighed in relief as it crashed to the ground, momentarily stunned by the impact.

Turning back to his brother, he was about to urge him to go. 

But Phil, eyes still locked forward, suddenly opened his mouth in shock. Techno followed his gaze back to where the troll was, and blinked when he saw, crawling out from beneath the beast’s hand, a small figure. It was the body that they thought was dead before. 

The figure took a look around, then immediately ran into one of the rooms nearby.

“Wait-” Phil began, moving forward toward the room. But before he could do anything, the troll stirred. Hurriedly, Techno pulled Phil back as it sat up, ugly face twisted into a scowl.

For a moment, the troll just sat there, looking around, as if it was searching for something. Then, its eyes zoomed in on the entrance of the room where the Slytherin student was.

“No,” Techno heard Phil whispered, “Shit. No, no, no.”

But the troll didn’t stop. It got back up to its feet, and began slowly making its way toward the room. They could hear a familiar scream, one they had heard before.

“How much longer to the dormitory Techno?” Frantically, Phil asked, “How much longer?”

Techno made a quick check in his head, “Just around the corner.”

“Then go,” Phil gritted his teeth, “I need to get that kid. I can’t-”

“Nah, I’m staying.”

“What?” 

“I’m staying,” Techno simply repeated, “It’s more likely you won’t get hurt if you have me helping.”

Phil hesitated, “Techno, you’re-”

“Beside,” Techno shrugged. His eyes dropped from tiredness, but he still forced out a smile, “Maiming a troll sounds fun.”

“...Okay, _okay_. I need to get to that kid first,” Phil sighed, pointing to the room where the other student had run into, “Could you distract it?”

“Could _I_?”

“I’ll be back as quickly as I can,” Phil nodded, before facing his head forward. Techno heard him take a deep shaky breath.

The troll was standing at the entrance of the room, its hand reaching inside. As Phil dashed toward it, Techno pointed his wand at the creature, shouting, “ _Flipendo_!” Once again, the spell hit, and the troll was sent backward. Its head hit the wall and momentarily, its eyes rolled to the back of its head. 

With the opening, Phil rushed into the room. While he did, Techno slowly stumbled toward the beast, his wand still pointing directly at it, “ _Stupefy_ ,” he casted, quickly following it up with another, “ _Expelliarmus_.”

The two spells came into effect as soon as it hit. The troll freezed its movement, and its club went flying out of its hand. Techno breathed out heavily, trying to get his racing heart to calm down. So tired, his hand was starting to numb just holding onto the wand.

But the troll was starting to move again, and so he repeated, “ _Stupefy_.” The word was slurred, but the shoddy job would have to do right now. Though the spell might only last for a few seconds due to the poor casting, he just wanted to stall. Stall, for as long as possible. 

Techno took a deep breath.

Hopefully, Phil will get it done soon.

\----------------------------

While Techno was attacking the troll, Phil made his way inside the room. Dark and crowded, it seemed like a storage for supplies. He took a look around, heart jumping when he couldn’t find anybody there.

But then, beneath the broomsticks in the corner of the room, there came a noise. A whimper. Phil rushed toward it. Battling away the brooms, he found himself staring down at the student that had run in earlier.

He frowned when he noticed the tears track running down their face, “Now, now. It will be alright.”

“The troll!” They yelped, grabbing onto him when they realized who was there, “It’s here! It’s-”

“I know.” Phil said, hugging them close as guilt began bubbling inside him, “It will be okay, yeah?”

The student continued crying. As he held the student close, Phil made sure to check them over for any injuries. To his relief, as far as he can tell, it was just most minor bruises and scratches.

But when he brushed his hand over the student’s right arm, they suddenly flinched away. Phil jumped, not expecting the reaction, “What-”

“I’m sorry!” They cried, cradling their arm, “It just hurt…”

“Hurt?” Phil asked, “Let me see.”

They hesitated for a moment, then turned their body slightly so that he could check. Being as gentle as he could, Phil pressed his fingers in the muscle of their arm, scowling when he felt a large bruise on their wrist.

“My wrist got twisted when the troll was holding onto me,” the student whispered, “I’m sorry.”

“No,” Phil swallowed, “No, it’s not your fault. Don’t apologize.”

The student gulped, and gave a little nod.

Phil pulled out his wand, preparing to cast a healing spell. But before he could do anything, he paused and took a moment to look over himself. It was probably not a good idea to cast spells when he was tired out of his mind, especially healing spells. Too many things could go wrong.

Sighing, Phil put his wand back into his robe. Instead, he opted to carefully pull the student up to their feet, being careful not to move their right arm too much.

He nudged them to the door. The student took a step back, shaking their head frantically.

“I’m sorry. I know you don’t want to,” Phil sighed, “But we need to get you out of here. Fast.”

“I-Is it still outside?”

Phil pursed his lips, “...Yes.”

“Then I’m not going!” They shook their head and slowly backed into the corner again, “I’m not.”

“You’re not safe here. We need to get you back to the Slytherin dormitory.” Phil shook his head, coming toward them, “Why are you out in the first place?”

“I-I forgot my quill back at the Potion classroom,” the student whimpered, “And then it just showed up.”

“Okay...” Phil sighed, “Look, the faster we go, the better. We need to get that hand treated. I promise, I will protect you this time. You won't get hurt again.”

“You promise?” the student huffed.

“Yes,” Phil reached a hand out. After a moment, the student took it with their uninjured hand, and he smiled in relief.

They went out of the room, and Phil quickly told the student to turn away so that they wouldn’t see the troll, lest they panicked at the sight of it. They seemed to understand, and did as he said.

The first thing he looked for outside in the hallway was his brother. It was hard to make out Techno in the dim light, but Phil spotted him standing in front of the troll, his wand raised toward it.

“Techno,” He called, “Let’s go.” 

It took a moment for Techno to notice and turn back. Phil tried not to get worried by it. All of them were tired at this point. He was no better, with sweat running down his forehead, his back aching.

But that was just more reason to get back to the dorm as fast as they can. Calling for Techno again, he waved his hand, “Techno!”

“Huh?” He heard his brother reply, “Oh, yeah. Okay.”

He waited as Techno casted a final spell on the troll, then turned away and jogged up to the two of them. He stared at the younger student, then back up at Phil, “We need to get out of here. _Stupefy_ won’t last long.”

“Why?” Phil blinked, remembering back to his lesson on the spell. Wasn’t it supposed to render the opponent unconscious for an extended amount of time?

Then he looked one look at Techno, and realized why. His brother's eyes were unfocused, and he was breathing so hard it physically moved his shoulders as well. Whatever spell he casted in this state probably wouldn’t turn out that good.

“Techno…” Phil began, but Techno held a hand up before he could do anything.

“Run first,” Techno pointed ahead, “Talk later.”

He jogged away, and Phil followed after, gently leading along the student.

They managed to take twenty steps before there was a rumble behind them. The corridor physically shook as they ran through it. Noticing the student trying to turn around and look. Shaking his head at them, Phil nudged their head back forward, and picked up his speed. 

He felt a little guilty, hearing the yelp coming from the younger student when they got dragged along, probably because the force moved their injured arm. But there was no time. The troll had caught up to them faster than he had realized. Phil only noticed when suddenly, behind them, the floor broke apart. They all spun around, shocked to see a hole in the middle of where they once stood. 

The troll brought his club up again, and Phil realized what had happened. With a yell, he pushed the others forward, “GO!”

They ran. Behind them, the troll’s footsteps boomed, sounding like it was closing in with each one. The air singed as it swung its club, missing them by a hair each time. Phil urged everybody to move forward, himself running as fast as he could possibly manage.

But he could see the problem. All of them were tired and worn out. Especially Techno, who was starting to lag behind. Phil cursed, mentally berating himself for letting his brother do all that casting for distraction. He should have just told Techno to go back to the dorm. At least then, one of them was safe.

With Techno behind, he was right in the path of the club. Noticing that, Phil felt a chill run down his spine. He opened his mouth to warn his brother, but by them, the club had already begun swinging. 

He saw in slow motion as Techno realized what was coming, his brother’s eyes widening. The student, in front of them both, was yelling, but Phil couldn’t hear any of it. All he could focus on was his brother.

His foot took an automatic step toward Techno, his hand extending out as far as he could, but even he realized that it wouldn’t reach in time. The club was closing in. So in a last ditch attempt, he ran right toward Techno, barreling into him. 

They both fell to the ground. The air whistled as the club swung past them. 

“Phil!” Techno screamed, his voice hoarse. Phil chuckled despite the situation. He couldn’t remember the last time his brother sounded that scared.

But there was no time for that. Distantly, Phil became aware of the shadow growing over them, of the club about to slam down, pulverizing them both. But he couldn’t do anything in his dazed state. 

Thankfully, he didn’t have to. Techno held onto his robe tightly, and rolled them both out of the way. The club slammed down where they once lied, breaking the floor into pieces. 

With renewed energy, Techno pulled his brother up and dragged him forward. Even the student came back, running behind them and pushing Phil forward with one arm. Together, they all scrambled away as the troll tried to pick up its club again.

Finally, he could see it. The door of the Slytherin dormitory. Standing at the end of the hallway, it was lined on both sides with cold, foreboding stone pillars. Phil would normally find it scary, but right now the sight alone made him sighed in relief. 

The troll let out a roar, seemingly realizing too that its prey were getting away. It barreled down the hall, batting away any pillars and curtains in its way. 

“Go,” Phil urged, pushing the two younger students forward, “Go, go-"

He cut off, coughing. His throat felt raw from all the running and yelling. But the others seemed to understood. They raced to the door, pausing in front of it.

“What’s the password?” Phil whirled around. The troll was closing in, “What is it?”

“Uh…” Techno cringed. 

“Hurry!” Phil yelled.

“It’s hard to think when you just ran a marathon, Phil!” replied Techno, his eyes still glued onto the door, “Uhm…”

“The password?” Beside the two of them, the student piped up, “It’s ' _Basilisk’'_!”

The door opened, and as the troll drew nearer, Phil shoved the two other students inside before he himself went in. The troll’s shadow drew over them imminently. Without looking up at it, Phil grabbed the handle of the door and slammed it shut. 

There was a pound against the door.

Then another.

Phil held his breath, praying to whatever magic holding the door closed.

The troll tried a few more times to get in. With each attempt, debris fell from the ceiling, and the whole room trembled.

But the door remained shut.

Finally, the troll stopped, seemingly bored of trying to no avail. Retreating, its stomps grew quieter the further down the hall it went. 

Standing there, Phil sighed in relief as he listened to the fading footsteps. Beside him, a few Slytherin came and led the young student he had found away, probably to heal their injured arm. 

To the side, Techno was speaking to his friend.

“They know the troll is in the dungeon and still want us to go back here?” Phil overheard his brother saying, “Bruh…”

“Yeah, even before, when everybody is going back to the dorm collectively, we could still hear it stomping around. Thankfully it wasn’t anywhere near us.” His friend replied.

“Didn’t try to fight it, Dre? I guess I one-upped you this time.

“You barely escaped getting eaten. I wouldn’t call that a victory,” huffed his friend, “Anyway, I gotta go inform the professors about the troll. Try not to die from exhaustion in the meantime.”

“And let you beat my score in the exam? Never.”

Phil turned away from the conversation to take a deep breath. Collapsing onto a sofa in the common room, he looked up at the ornate chandelier above, trying not to notice the aching of his overworked body. All around him, students spoke in hushed whispers. He ignored them, choosing to instead focus on the muffled sound of the water outside the window.

Techno came by a moment later. Taking a seat beside him, his brother exhaled deeply. And there they sat, in silence.

Phil was the first to break it, “Well, shit.”

“No, Phil, let me bask in victory. I think we did great,” Techno replied.

“No, no, you did amazing. I’m proud of you,” Phil sighed, “But I…”

“Oh no, is this regret I’m seeing,” Techno elbowed him, “ _Phil_.”

“I don’t know.” Phil covered his face with his hand, “I panicked there. Every choice felt like it’s the wrong one.”

“But things still end up okay,” Techno shrugged, “We got the happy ending, everyone lives.”

“There were so many close calls,” said Phil, “It seems like we barely did good enough.”

“It’s fine, Phil.”

Phil didn’t reply, not until he felt Techno patting his shoulder. He looked up at his brother, and saw him pointing. 

Phil drifted his eyes, following Techno’s finger, to another section of the common room. There, sitting by the bookshelves, with a cat plopped on their lap, the young student that had escaped the troll with them. Their right arm had seemingly been healed.

“Good enough is still enough,” Techno said.

The cat bounced out of the student lap, and they got up to chase after it. Laughter and yelps rang through the common room as the cat jumped from one area to the next, disturbing the other students. 

Phil laughed along right until the cat came to him. It jumped onto his thighs and settled down. 

He looked at it. 

It looked back.

Then, the student came, stifling a laugh when they saw his predicament. Gently, Phil picked the cat up, and handed it over to them.

The student took the cat and ran off with it. Phil watched them go, a smile on his face. 

Leaning back against the couch, he sighed, “...Maybe you’re right.”

“Heh?” Techno snapped his head back, “Oh, sorry, I was distracted by the cat. What’s up?”

“...No,” Phil chuckled, “Nothing. It’s nothing.”

Outside the Slytherin dormitory, the thundering footsteps of the troll faded and faded, until it was nothing at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sike, there was gonna be a Halloween chapter all along. Got this idea from a meme. I took some creative liberty and buff up the troll a bunch from what it was originally like in canon (it got one-shotted, if ya wanna know). Now it's got minor immunization against magic spells, just to make things more suspenseful.
> 
> This chapter is just the definition of quantity over quality. I revise it a bunch of time until I'm too tired to do it anymore and just throw you the remnant of a coherent story. Hope y'all enjoy.


	15. How to Start a Study Group (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Exam season is coming up.

It was that time of the year again. 

The trees around the castle ground were devoid of leaves. Birds that often hang around by the window stool all migrated away. Walking outside, one could feel the unmistakable chill of winter settling in.

It was November.

Exam season.

\----------------------------

The Study Hall was pitifully empty, with barely any students around the two long wooden tables. Of course, at this time, most students would be studying, but it seemed like they preferred to do it at the comfort of their own dorm than some busy hall. Techno could relate, he would much rather be back in his room right now, alone. Unfortunately, there were a bazillion things that could distract him from studying back there, including (but not limited to) a giant squid outside his window.

So there he was instead, sitting by himself at one of the two wooden tables in the hall, with only his work to occupy him. In contrast, the few students that had also came here were all in groups, chittering and chattering among themselves. He tried not to pay attention to it, opting to focus back on his textbook.

This was fine, he thought. He liked being alone anyways.

\----------------------------

But the solitude didn’t last long. Looking back, Techno really should have predicted this, but he unfortunately did not realize that back then. So as Dream came to the table and slammed a stack of books onto the table, Techno glanced up from his work. 

He continued watching in boredom as his rival smirked at him, “Let’s do it again.”

“Do what?” Techno paused, “...Oh, you mean _that_. Are you sure? Wouldn't want you to embarrass yourself again.”

“You only beat me by 3 ‘O’s!” Dream huffed, “This time, I’ll get the highest grade in our year for sure.”

“Yeah, okay nerd.”

“Shut up,” the other Slytherin pulled up a chair and sat down, frowning when he noticed that Techno was raising an eyebrow, “What?”

“Why are you sitting here?” Techno looked around, “There’s plenty of other chairs.”

“Well...you got to keep your enemies close,” Dream brought his hand up and did an “I’m watching you” movement, “Right? Sun Tzu or whatever.”

Techno blinked at him, unimpressed, “Dude, seriously?”

“Uhm…” Dream trailed off, shifting in his seat. It was obvious by his movement that he must have not predicted Techno’s reaction, “Okay, this might not have been the best idea...I can move...if you want?”

Techno stared at his rival. Squirming around in his seat, with his eyes nervously darting around, Dream wasn’t at all as intimidating as he would probably like to appear to be.

What an awkward nerd. 

Waving his hand dismissively, Techno sighed, “No, it’s alright.”

It was almost comical how fast Dream brightened up, like a kid in a candy store, “Really? I can stay?”

“Yeah, you can stay.”

And so he did.

\----------------------------

It was a couple day after that Techno began to notice something.

“Since when did we get two extra people?” Techno asked, pointing at the unexpected addition.

“Oh,” Sitting beside him, Dream chuckled nervously, “Sapnap and George, we like to do things together…You know them, right? ” He did know them. It was hard not to, when they constantly trailed behind Dream like some kind of puppy dogs. 

On the other side of the table, Sapnap looked up and gave him a little wave before going back to his work. Meanwhile, George didn’t even acknowledge Techno as he continued to read.

Techno raised his eyebrow in their direction.

“It’s fine, right?” Dream frowned, “I could tell them to leave, if you...”

“No, no. They can stay too,” Brushing away dust from his shoulder, Techno went back to his work, “Whatever.

\----------------------------

“Uh...why are _you_ here?” Techno looked to his right, watching his brother skimmed through the pages of his book carelessly.

“I’ve been here for the whole week and only now do you ask?” Wilbur put a hand on his chest, “Oh, how I’m hurt by your negligence to my presence.”

“No, seriously, why are you here?”

“I need to study too, Techno. I'm not gonna be a prefect anymore if I keep failing classes.”

“...Okay, fine, just don’t start selling drugs or I’m kicking you out.”

\----------------------------

“PLEASE!” Tommy bowed down before all of them, accidentally dropping a few papers as he did, “Please teach me!”

“Please teach him,” Next to him, Tubbo gave them an apologetic smile, “He’s failing in all his classes.”

Techno glanced between the two second-years and then back at his group. To his surprise and horror, they were all staring at him. When did he become the de-facto leader of this ragtag band? Even Dream was waiting for him to make a decision.

“Once again, people come to me for my skill,” he sighed, “Okay _fine,_ you two can stay. What classes are you failing at?

“Well,” Tommy took a deep breath, “I can’t do Charms, Defense Against Dark Art, History….”

Techno groaned. It was going to be a long day, wasn’t it?

\----------------------------

“Okay, and that’s how you should be casting _Silencio_. Anything to add to that?” Looking up from the textbook, Techno examined the group, “Remember, don’t cast it wrong, or the target will start swelling instead.”

They have had 5 meetings now over three weeks, the sessions taking place on the weekend to avoid schedule issues. And it has been...fun. 

Yes, Techno would have to admit, it had been fun. Fun to hang out with his brothers and friends. Fun to nerd out over duelling spells with Dream, to complain about Muggle History with Sapnap, or arguing about the usefulness of Flying with Tommy and Tubbo. 

Occasionally, other people would come and join in the group as well, just for a day or two. His brother, Philza, who grinned when he saw that Techno was actually talking to people. Or Tommy’s housemate, Skeppy, who yelled encouragement at them until the librarian kicked him out. But out of all of them, Techno’s favourite guest would have to be Dream’s friend, Bad, who brought muffins for everybody.

Yeah, Techno would have to admit, he had fun. And so, much to his dismay, he had found himself waking up every weekend looking forward to their session together. 

Now, as he went over spells with the group and saw that some of them were even scribbling notes down as they listened to him, Techno really wondered.

What the bloody hell had he started?

“Any questions,” he asked the group, turning his head to meet everyone’s eyes.

“George, are you understanding this?” He noticed Dream asking his friend, who shook his head dejectedly in reply, “Okay, let’s go over that again.” 

“Hey,” to his left, Wilbur raised his hand like they were a legit classroom, and Techno mentally kill himself for what seemed like the hundredth times that day, “If theoretically, I cast _Silencio_ on my customer so they couldn’t attack me in the middle of a deal-”

“We are not talking about your underground industries, Wilbur,” Tommy cut in.

“Shush Tommy, let the adult talk.”

“You are only 2 years older, dickhead!” As if on instinct, Tubbo reached out and physically held back Tommy, preventing him from throwing himself at his brother in anger. 

“I think _Silencio_ would be useful for some circumstances,” said Sapnap, “But _Incendio_ is where it’s at, man.”

“You only say that because you’re an arsonist,” Wilbur brought his quill down onto a parchment, saying aloud as he wrote, “Let’s see, _Silencio_ , for when some bastard want to scam you out of your fuc-”

“No!”

“Wilbur!”

“Let’s maybe not-”

“Children are listening!”

There were a couple of students around them, most of whom were staring in disbelief at the group. Techno wondered what they must be thinking, watching as Wilbur and Tommy yelled at each other whilst Tubbo was trying (and failing) to hold Tommy back, with Dream to the side just casually teaching his friend the next spell, completely unbothered by the chaos.

He blushed when he saw a couple pairs of eyes trained right on him as well, “Okay, let’s move on,” Techno hurried to say, trying to get control of the situation, “Next spell, _Accio_. You can summon things-”

“Oh, now I can just take the golds off of them! How the tables have turn-”

“Shut up Wilbur!”

And they started yelling again. Gazing over the mess that he had created, Techno, though he would deny it later, couldn’t help but smile, just for a little bit. 

Maybe he could get used to this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, November.
> 
> Lots planned, but for now I bring you...STUDYING (always exciting, huh)


	16. How to Ace an Exam (End)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Exam season is coming up

It was that fateful day.

They met early that morning, at their usual spot in the Study Hall. With their hardwork over the last few weeks, they all felt more than prepared, but just to be safe, everybody went over the materials one last time.

“Okay, and that’s the last jinx that should be on the fourth-year test. So for me, Dream, George, and Wilbur,” Techno looked around at the group, “Got it?”

Around him, heads nodded.

“That’s great,” He said, resisting the urge to yawn. It was still so darn early, “Well I’ve been talking for the past weeks. So Dream, if you please.”

“Oh, sure,” Dream grinned, as energetic as usual despite the time. Turning to the group, he raised his fist triumphantly up to the air, yelling, “Everyone… _We win these_!”

And then, it was time.

\----------------------------

In his seat, Tommy bounced nervously. 

While his first test, Transfiguration, wasn’t all that hard, it was still not his best subject. He just failed the quiz for it last month, actually. It was a pretty embarrassing sight to see, and he had made sure not to show any of his brothers.

But now, he had weeks of study backing him up. Just this morning, he had gone over the notes for every spell and theory that he should know. From Animagi, to _Felifors,_ it was all clear in his head.

Yes, Tommy truly believed. He got this. 

He got this.

\----------------------------

Sapnap took the paper from the professor, quill readied in his hand. While he would never admit it, he was kind of nervous. His heart was beating irregular, hands starting to sweat. It was one of his weakest subjects, Herbology. Something about plants just seemed difficult to him, maybe because he liked burning things so much. He’d got in trouble for that plenty of times. So many detentions…

But hopefully there would be no burning on this test. No, he was going to try and pass it with a decent score of his own, to rival the others. If he could do it for this class in particular, then all of the other exams would be a cakewalk. 

Sapnap glanced down at the page, readied. He wrote his name, then automatically moved his eye to the first question.

Then the second.

And the third.

Sapnap grinned as he looked over the rest of the test. Yes, yes. He remembered all this. They had gone over it on their last week, so the memory was still fresh in his mind. 

Confident, he placed down his quill on the parchment, and began writing.

\----------------------------

One question after another, Tubbo sped through, writing furiously on the paper. There was half an hour more to the chest, he knew that by the hourglass clock up at the front of the Charms classroom.

It was just instinct at this point, with how much he’d gone over the topics before. The most difficult part was just reading the questions. Once he figure out what they meant, it was only a matter of writing down the answer. Just like that, repeating and repeating.

 _Accio_ summoned things to you, he remembered Techno going over that in the third week. And Wilbur had a lecture about the Cheering Charm in their fifth session because he liked any spell that made sound. Philza came by and showed them _Lumos Maxima_ once, because none of them could do it very well. And Dream loved to go on about _Carpe Retractum,_ saying it was useful for pulling somebody from up high if you have enough time to cast it.

He knew all of it. He remembered.

Grinning, Tubbo continued his writing as the hourglass clock continued ticking down.

\----------------------------

Techno, cradling his head in his hand, tapped his fingers gently on the table. Before him was his potion, readied to be checked.

Having memorized the recipe completely, he was sure it was perfect. The colours were right, and all the ingredients were properly measured. So why wasn’t he calling Professor Snape over to check it, you might be asking.

Well…

He looked around the classroom, watching as everyone scrambled to get their potion done. Even Dream, on the opposite side to him, was still finishing up the last step to the recipe. The other students trailed behind him, some were even still on the beginning measurements.

Techno glanced down at his own potion once again, and gulped. In his head, he went over what would happen if he were to call the teacher over now.

Well, there would be a bunch of heads turned his way. Some of the meaner Slytherin might even glare at him. Some would whisper behind his back, and although it was probably about what they were going to eat that day, Techno couldn’t help but get nervous.

And hey, Dream’s potion was nearly finished anyway, and this recipe didn't require it to be at any specific temperature. He could just wait for the other boy to get it done and checked, and then do his own. The hourglass clock had barely gone over halfway, he had time to spare.

Techno sat back in his seat and continued waiting.

\----------------------------

Dream set the finished potion down on the table, then raised his hand to call his house leader over. He noticed Techno had gotten his done a few minutes prior. Knowing his rival, he was probably too nervous to be the first to hand it in. 

That was alright, Dream would gladly take the title.

Finally, Professor Snape came by and glanced down at the potion. Murmuring under his breath, he began grading.

“Colour is right. Bubbly, yes...” He nodded approvingly, writing something that looked distinctly like an “O”, “Very good. I expected nothing less from a star student.”

Dream beamed before quickly schooling his feature into a more neutral expression. He shot a glance at Techno, on the opposite side of the classroom, snickering when he saw the other Slytherin rolling his eyes. 

Techno raised his own hand soon after, finally confident enough to finish. Professor Snape came by him, and Dream saw the teacher nodding his head as well. Techno too had aced it.

Of course. He had expected nothing less.

“You two, clean up your station, then feel free to sit for the rest of the class,” The professor turned to the rest of the class as he continued, “See that? Get a move on.”

\----------------------------

It was the end.

Or nearly. George glared at the very last question on the paper. He was so close to finishing. If he could just remember this one question. Just this one question!

Okay, let’s see. They had went over Care for Magical Beast in the beginning of the second week, although it was only a little bit. Understandable, seeing that the only one who had that subject was him.

Did they mention the _crup_ once in that time?

It should be easy. Magical Beast was one of his best subjects, he should be remembering it. What does the _crup_ look like? George went over the image of all the animals in his head again, frustrated to find that he couldn’t think of anything.

Up at the front desk, the hourglass ticked down. Only a small portion of sand was left on the top half.

Alright, George took a deep breath, trying to get himself to calm down. He got this. A crup was a magic breed of dog, he knew that. It looked like a normal dog outside of its forked tail.

So what type of Muggle’s dog breed did it resemble?

The image began to form in his head. Though foggy and blurry, he still could make out some of it. It had patches, he remembered that. It had white fur, and red as well...

The Muggle breed was named Jack...Jack something.

He tapped his quill on the table, trying to not pay attention to the people walking up to hand in their test.

Jack...Jack...Jack terrier…

His eyes widened. Of course, the Jack Russell terrier. That was it, he was sure!

“The exam is now ending!” The professor called at the front of the class, “Everybody, make sure you’ve handed in your paper in 3...2...”

Quickly, he wrote down the answer on the paper, paying no mind how horrible his handwriting was in his hurry.

“...1. Time’s over!”

Shakily, George stood up, bringing the paper up to the professor. She raised an eyebrow at him, but thankfully still accepted it. Sighing in relief, he returned to his desk, leaving the teacher to gather up all the tests.

That was a close one.

\----------------------------

Wilbur was confident as he walked up to the front desk, his Arithmancy test in his hand. He might have finished writing a bit later than everybody else, closer to the end of the timer, but he was sure that all his answers were correct.

Just to be sure though, he glanced down at the paper again, checking his answer over. Might be a bit cheeky, but he didn’t really care.

Let’s see, the first question he definitely got right. And the one after that...and the one after-

He narrowed his eye at the second to last question. It seemed that he had written something incorrectly, there should be two more 0 at the end of his answer. But he was walking up to hand in his test already, the timer had already ended. There was nothing he could do.

Right?

Now, despite being a Ravenclaw, and a prefect at that, Wilbur pride himself on his slyness as well. Some students called him a dirty criminal, and he didn’t find any problem with that. It was one of his strong suits, and he would wear it proudly.

From his pocket, he took out a Muggle tool called a pen, which he nagged his parents to buy for him once at a museum they went to. It was a writing utensil, or so he heard. Discreetly, he passed the pen to his right hand, and brought the paper up closer to his chest so the professor didn’t see. Thankfully, she seemed to be focused on another student.

It was a bit hard to write without leverage, but he managed. Forcing the pen down onto the paper, he drew two small circles right after his answer. He was surprised to see how good the pen ink came out.

This wasn’t considered cheating, right? Sure, the time had gone out, but it was only by a couple of minutes. And he still knew the answer, which was kinda the point of this whole thing. He didn’t feel guilty.

Quickly, Wilbur pushed the pen into the sleeve of his robe. He put on his best smile and went up to the teacher’s desk. She met his eyes as he approached.

His smile widened, seeing her face. After all his years of trading Felix Felicis to people, Wilbur had learned to somewhat read expressions, and his professor seemed to have been totally oblivious to the whole thing.

Casually, He gave her the paper, and walked away.

\----------------------------

“I GOT AN ‘ACCEPTABLE’, WILBUR!” Shouting at the top of his lungs, Tommy pointed down at his brother, “Eat shit! I’m the best!”

“Congratulations, Tommy. Somehow you barely managed to get an ‘Acceptable’ on your child test, even after all the time we spent helping you study,” Wilbur rolled his eyes, batting the other away, “Bravo. Bravo.”

“You take that back!”

Tubbo reached out and stopped his friend from jumping onto the table, an event that had occurred so many times at this point, he only needed one hand to do it. 

On his other hand, he held onto his report card, which he hadn’t have the time to read. They all rushed here right after their grades got published, so most of them hadn’t checked to see what they actually got yet.

Now, he took a quick look for the first time, smiling when he saw how he’d done. Noticing that, Wilbur leaned over and read it as well.

“What?” He exclaimed when he was finished, “Tubbo!”

“Huh?” Tubbo blinked, “What did I do?”

“What did you do? Look at that!” Checking it over, Tubbo finally noticed that he did, in fact, get the highest grade among the second-year students, “I’m pretty sure you got first in your year!”

“ _What_?” Tommy yelled, scrambling over to see, “What the hell, Tubbo? I thought we’re supposed to be together! Oh my fucking god-”

As everybody tuned out of his ramble, Techno came over and clapped Tubbo on the back, “Nice.”

“Thanks to you guys,” the second-year grinned.

“Oh, yes, of course,” Techno nodded, “But really-”

“Techno!” Dream jumped over into their conversation.

“I am glad-”

“Techno!”

“Okay, nevermind,” Techno turned to look at his rival, “Yes, Dream. What do you need.”

The other Slytherin grinned eagerly, “How many O’s did you end up getting?”

“Actually...” Techno smirked, folding his arms together and looking his rival right in the eyes, “I got six, what about you?”

“Goddamn it!”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” said Techno, “So?”

“Four...” Dream groaned, “It was only two more classes. Only two more!”

“Sure, loser.”

Dejectedly, Dream slumped down onto the chair next to his two friends, sulking. Techno stifled a laugh, knowing full well his rival would bounce back to his usual self in a couple of days.

“It’s okay, Dream,” George consulted when he saw Dream, “At least you did better than Sapnap.”

“I did very well, thank you very much!”

“As I was saying. At least none of your grades drop to an A.”

Sapnap stuck a tongue out, “You’re saying like you don’t have any A, dumbass.”

“Oh,” George winked, “But I don’t.”

He raised his report card right up to Sapnap’s face, waving it around. The Ravenclaw took a look, and found to his surprise that George was indeed not lying.

“How!?” He exclaimed, looking down at his own report card, littered with EEs and As, with only a single “Outstanding” under Defense Against Dark Arts, “Monsters. You’re all monsters.”

“Wait, so…” Hearing that, Techno asked the group, “Everybody here passed their classes?” A sea of nods and “yes”s came back in reply, and he sighed in relief, “Oh thank god…”

“This is pretty efficient,” Dream smiled, “We all got good grades...maybe we should do this again next time.”

“Yep.”

“Yeah.”

“We should!”

“Uhm…” Techno began, but his voice was drowned out by the others’ agreement, “Seriously?”

“Why not?” Dream, being the only one who had heard him, grinned, “It will be great.”

“I’m not sure…”

“Oh come on. Don’t say that like you didn’t have fun here too.”

Techno blinked, unsure of what to say to that. He did have fun, didn’t he. Even though, usually, he hated doing these kinds of things. 

He looked back at the group, seeing his brothers fighting, their friends laughing in the background. It was so loud, and noisy and honestly kind of childish. 

But strangely, he didn’t mind it much. 

“Okay…fine,” Techno sighed, crossing his arms in defeat as the group continued cheering on their passing of the exam, “Just don’t start adding professor after my name or anything.”

“Oh,” Dream smirked, the bastard, “We’ll see about that.”

“I hate you.” Techno sighed, but even he couldn’t keep the small smile out of his face.

“I know.”

\----------------------------

And that was how it all started. Now, Techno, currently in his fifth-year at Hogwart, glanced outside the windows of the Study Hall once again. He saw the fallen leaves, the migrating birds, and he smiled.

It was that time of the year again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cringeeee. The cringe is real writing this. 
> 
> Well, next time I shall bring you the first long storyline.


	17. A Day at Hogsmeade (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was Hogsmeade weekend.

Walking through Hogsmeade, the holiday cheer was apparent in the air. 

As snow fell gently from the sky, one could hear animated chatter from the busy crowd. People discussing their business, haggling with shopkeepers on prices and deals. Children laughed as they chased after floating presents, leaving behind footsteps on the growing snow bed. Although it was already dark, orbs of light were situated at every corner of the village, brightening the whole place up even at night.

Among the crowd of locals and visiting wizards, one could even spot a few Hogwarts students enjoying their weekend relaxation, free from the stress of homework and exams. Like George, though he didn’t think enjoyable would be the word to describe his situation right now. 

Pushing through another crowd of people, he looked for the sight of his friends. It had only been a minute, and he had already managed to lose themselves among the busy crowd. He whirled around, looking in every direction, his heart beating hard. 

Suddenly, a hand settled itself on his shoulder. He yelped, startled.

But, just as quickly as the surprise came, it went away again. Turning around, George let out an offended screech, “Where were you guys?” 

“Sorry, sorry.” Facing him, slowly raising his hands in surrender, was Dream, a slight hint of laughter in his voice, “But you got to pay attention, you know? We can’t keep going back for you.”

“Shut up,” George grumbled, crossing his arms together, “It’s hard when you can’t call for help, okay? I just had to stand there, while you two go off to god-knows-where.”

“Oh look, little Gogy is anger-y,” cooed Sapnap, coming up beside the two of them, “Will a cup of butterbeer help you get loose?”

“SApNaP I SWEar to G-”

“George.” Dream quickly put a hand over his friend’s mouth, “Mind the volume.” Immediately, George shut his mouth. Dream pulled his hand back and turned to his other friend, nudging slightly, “And Sapnap, lay off.”

“What? It’s just a suggestion.”

“ _Sapnap_.”

“Fine.”

“You two...” Dream sighed as he reached out and grabbed both of them by the hands. Pulling them to a less crowded place, he reached into his pocket and unfolded a paper map of Hogsmeade, “Okay, in 3 hours, we have to head back to school, let’s make the best of our time. We’re at the intersection in front of Scrivenshaft’s Quill and Gladrags right now. Where do you guys want to go?”

“I’m thinking of visiting Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Shop with George actually.” Sapnap pointed at the spot on the map, “Here. He needs to see what it’s like.”

“Huh? Why?” George asked.

“So you can take one of your admires there, of course.” Sapnap shrugged, as if it was the most obvious thing ever, “Didn’t you read the letters? So many of them invite you to go to this place-”

“Okay, first, I do not have admirers,” hissed George, jabbing a finger at Sapnap, “And second, even if I do, why would I want to go with them?

Sapnap raised an eyebrow, “Don’t tell me you’re planning on rejecting everybody. Come on, George.”

“Come on _what_?”

“So many hearts will be broken with you.” Sapnap blinked in a moment of realization, then cheekily turned to Dream, singing, “Heart been broken so many times, I…”

“-Don’t know what to believe,” Dream immediately piped, before bringing a hand up quickly to cover his mouth, “Sapnap, stop it.”

Sapnap winked at him, “What? Tommy practiced for so long to cast that curse on you. Might as well use it while it lasts.”

“Fucking Tommy…” Dream murmured as he looked down once again at the paper map, “Alright, you two are going to the tea shop. I...hmm...” 

“You could always go with us,” Sapnap suggested, “It will be a threesome!”

“Please don’t…” George vehemently shook his head, staring pleadingly at Dream.

Dream put a hand up to his chin thoughtfully. Looking at the map he could see a few shops that he may like to visit, but nothing really stood out. 

It didn’t sound so bad to go to a love café with George, but he really didn’t want to be with Sapnap, if only because of that Tommy’s stupid curse. Then he saw something on the map that caught his eyes. Blinking, Dream looked up and scanned the crowd, face falling when he realized what he was looking for wasn’t around.

“So you’re coming with us, Dream?” Sapnap asked him, already facing the direction of the tea shop, one hand grabbing onto a scowling George to make sure the other boy didn’t run away.

“Probably…” Dejectedly, Dream folded his paper map and shoved it into his pocket. He spun around to follow his friends, sparing one final look at the mass. 

But before he could turn away fully, something suddenly appeared among the passerby. A very strange, yet familiar pink colour. A wide grin breaking out on Dream’s face when he realized.

“Look who’s here!” He called, waving his hands. The people he addressed turned their heads, and Dream grinned even wider when they began approaching. Behind him, George and Sapnap both paused in their steps, looking back to see what was up. 

Dream gave them a reassuring smile, then gestured to the newcomers, who had finally caught up.

“Hey Phil,” Dream nodded, tilting his head slightly to see if there was anybody beside the two. Seemingly, they were without their other two brothers at the moment, “Techno.”

“Heya!” Phil waved at them when he finally came close enough, “What are you guys up to?”

Next to him, Techno gave a slight nod of his own in greeting.

“Sapnap and George are planning to go to this love tea shop,” Dream explained to the older Huffepuff, “But I’m...thinking of something else.”

“Really?” Sapnap blinked.

“Yep,” Pulling out his map again, Dream shoved it out front of himself so that everybody could see. Then, he pointed to the small building near the Hogsmeade train station, “Techno, wanna go to the Shrieking Shack?”

“The Shrieking Shack…” Techno tilted his head, “Uh...isn’t that where, like, a bunch of people were killed or something?”

“Or so the legend goes.” Dream grinned, “Look, it’s past Hallowe’en, but we didn’t exactly get the best one this year anyway, so let’s go there. I challenge you to a fright match.”

“...What?”

“Want to go into some scary place with me and see who peace out first?”

“That sounds...cool, I guess,” Shrugging, Techno said, “But I don’t know-”

“What he meant is, he would love to go!” Phil badged in, “Come on, Techno. You would like to, don’t you?”

“Uh…”

“He would love to go.” Phil nodded.

“Phil, I don’t think…”

“You’re just following me around, Techno. Not that I mind, but I don’t think that’s very productive-”

“It’s a tactic, Phil. I don’t want to babysit Tommy. ” 

“-Why don’t you try bonding with your friends?” Pushing his brother slightly to the front, Phil beamed at Dream, “You two have fun!”

They stared as he slowly backed into the crowd again, waving all the way until he finally disappeared. After a few moments of silence, Sapnap and George also decided to go off, leaving the two of them alone.

“So…” Dream glanced at his rival, hands still clutching the paper map, “Shrieking Shack fright match?” He said, trying to hide the excitement in his voice. 

“Bruh…” Techno stared for a few moments, but his shoulder eventually drooped, “...Fine. Shrieking Shack fright match,” he said, surrendering himself as Dream began dragging him away.

\--------------------------

“Wilbur! Can you maybe hurry up?”

It was quiet in the shop, with the only sound being the occasional scratching of feather quills and the fireplace crackling in the corner of the room. Wilbur took a step closer to it, rubbing his hands together. 

He dreaded the thought going outside again, into the freezing cold, but with Tommy nagging him at every move, it was starting to become a much harder decision.

It being his younger brother's first ever visit to Hogsmeade, everybody in the family agreed that he would need a chaperone. Unfortunately, with Phil having to visit a lot of different shops for school supplies, and Techno just plainly saying he was busy (he wasn’t, Wilbur knew he wasn’t, the bastard), Wilbur, having only to pick up some new quills at Scrivenshaft’s Quill Shop, was deemed the “least occupied” out of all three of them.

At least Tubbo stayed back at school. Wilbur didn’t know how he could handle the two’s combined chaos.

“Wilbur, get going! I want to go to the joke shop!”

“There’s no joke shop around here, Tommy.”

“Wilbur, I’m looking at a map _right now_ ,” Tommy pointed at the map hanging right in front of him, “Here. See?”

Wilbur sent a pleading look to the shopkeeper, who was sorting out his newly made quills. “Go slower,” the Ravenclaw mouthed, but was only met with a confused eyebrow raise. 

Sighing, Wilbur turned back to the fireplace, extending his hands closer to the fire. Outside, snow was falling slowly, a small layer forming on the window stool. He saw people walking by, some of them running. Actually, now that he had noticed it, a lot of them were running. He wondered what was up.

“Your quills are finished,” Tommy called to him, and Wilbur teared his eyes away from the window and back to the shop. The shopkeeper had left all his quills on the counter table, stacked neatly together. Coming up to the desk, Wilbur spelled over a paper bag and put them all inside. 

“Can we go now?” Tommy asked for what felt like the umpteenth times. Reluctantly, Wilbur nodded.

They stepped outside the shop, and Wilbur shivered as a cold wind hit him. He hugged the paper bag in his hands closer, and began to push Tommy ahead, urging, “Get going, I don’t want to be out here for long.”

“Yeah, I’m trying,” the younger boy huffed, “But it’s kinda hard when everybody is blocking my way.”

“What do you mean?” Wilbur turned away from his brother to the crowd, finally noticing something strange with it. Everybody was standing still, heads turned in the exact same direction, like they were waiting for something. 

With so many heads in front of him, Wilbur couldn’t see what was going on even if he continuously jumped. But he could still hear the commotion up front, it sounded like a bunch of people yelling orders. Wilbur perked his ears up, one of his hands letting go of the paper bag to grab onto Tommy. His younger brother said nothing, letting Wilbur hear what was going on as they tightly held hands. 

The words came quickly once he paid attention to them, “-We’re aurors, from the Ministry of Magic, and this is not a drill! Repeat, this is not a drill! If everybody here could listen, we have an urgent announcement to make…”

A shiver ran down his spine. This time, Wilbur knew it was not from the cold.

\----------------------------

Pushing his way through the people, Phil looked around desperately for any familiar faces. He was near the Scrivenshaft’s Quill Shop, so Wilbur and Tommy should be around somewhere, if they actually headed the way they say they would.

Sweats began forming on his forehead as he made his way around. The first thing that notified him of something not being right was the excessive amount of aurors around that day. Patrolling through the streets, speaking in hushed tones to shopkeepers, they tried their best to be discreet, but Phil could still see them at the corner of his eyes, examining everybody in the crowd.

Things began to get worrisome when they were suddenly running through the street yelling to each other, their wands raised. That got a few people scared, and eventually, it became a big commotion. 

It all came to a head when everybody, visiting wizards, students, local people just living their life, all were gathered to a single spot in front of Gladrags Wizardwear, where all three streets through the village connected with each other. The aurors went to the middle of the crowd, and began informing everybody of an urgent announcement. They were still repeating that now, trying to get everybody to listen before revealing what the news was.

Which was why he was still trying to find his brothers. There were probably a few minutes before the aurors announced what was going on. Whatever it was, Phil had a feeling that it wasn’t going to be good, and he was hoping to be with his family when it all came down. 

“Wilbur!” Phil yelled at the top of his lungs. The people around him sent a few glares, but he could be careless, “Tommy! Techno!”

“Urgent! Everybody gather around! Urgent!” The auror kept on saying.

Phil pulled out his wand, fully prepared to cast _Sonorus_ to amplify his sound _,_ even if it would anger the people around him. But a second before he could cast the spell, his eyes zoomed onto a familiar brown tuft of hair. 

Now brown was a common hair colour, of course. The majority of people had it. So even if this tuft of brown hair had all the right texture and waviness, it could still belong to anybody. Still, Phil felt a tiny flower of hope blossoming in his chest, and he quickly made his way toward the hair.

It paid off, in the end. He sighed in relief when he saw Wilbur’s face, then Tommy’s. Running up to them, he gave each a tight hug, then examining them to see if there was anything wrong.

“Are you okay?” He asked, “You-”

Wilbur put a hand up, stopping him in his tracks. But what really surprised him, was Tommy. Usually so loud and excitable, his youngest brother gave him a quick shush, putting a finger up to his lips. 

Suddenly, Phil remembered what was going on around them. He turned back to the center, where the aurors were still standing.

“Final call!” They yelled, “Final call! Alright, please, listen closely!”

Phil put a hand onto Wilbur’s shoulder, steadying himself. Next to him, both Wilbur and Tommy seemed to be holding their breath. All of them, waiting.

There was a tense pause before one auror began to talk, his voice amplified, “In Hogsmeade right this moment, there are two death eaters on the run. I repeat, there are two very dangerous death eaters on the run out here. We’re trying our best to catch them, but for the moment, everybody will be asked to keep calm and do as we say. Local people are to return to their house. Visiting wizards will gather here, to be escorted out. Any Hogwarts students should go to their professors, who will be waiting to escort them back to school at the front gate. If anybody sees suspicious activity, please report to the nearest auror!”

There was a moment of silence, where everybody seemed to be holding their breath.

“I repeat! Please keep calm and do as you're told! If anybody sees suspicious activity, please report to the nearest auror!”

Then, as if everybody had finally realized what was going on. a multitude of sounds erupted from the crowd. Babies crying, their caretaker trying to calm them down with lullabies and singing. Murmurs began from the people around them, someone even started yelling.

Among the noise and chaos, Phil grabbed his two brothers and pulled them close. His hands were shaking slightly, but he still maintained a tight hold on them, less the crowd swept them away.

“What should we do?” He heard Tommy yelling over the noise, “I-Is this a normal occurrence at Hogsmeade!?”

“No,” Phil told him, then again with a little bit more firmness, “ _No_. But we’ll be fine. Everything is gonna be okay.”

“Really, Phil! Really!” Wilbur screamed as he dodged out of the way of a crying child.

“Look, we only got one fucking job here, and that’s to go to the front gate,” said Phil, “That’s all. I’m sure the aurors will take care of everything else. We’ll be okay. Do you trust me?”

He looked at both of them in the eyes. They hesitated for only a moment, before both of them nodded.

“Good,” Phil took hold of their hands and gripped tightly, if only to hide his own tremor. Forcing out a reassuring smile, and he repeated, “Everything’s gonna be okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeppppp, it's Hogsmeade. Freaking Hogsmeade, I spent so much time on this darn thing.
> 
> Anyway, hope this will cheer you up after what happened on Nov 16 :D


	18. A Day at Hogsmeade (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was Hogsmeade weekend.

“Blegh. Sapnap, why did you make me do this?” George gagged, shielding his face from another couple kissing in the corner of the tea shop. In front of him, Sapnap smirked as he popped another chocolate frog in his mouth.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Oh my goodness…” George stared down at his drink, a strange concoction inside a heart-shaped glass. Love, everything around here seemed to be about love, “Why...”

There was a loud bang, and suddenly everyone was cheering as ribbons fell everywhere. He couldn’t see what colour it was, but he suspected it was probably pink, seeing as that was the theme of this place. One found its way into his drink, and George did not hesitate to push the glass away, noting to himself to not ever try it.

“...Look,” Sighed Sapnap, “If you're really not enjoying this, we could go. I just thought you would appreciate a heads up, in case anybody come along in the future-”

“Sapnap, no.”

“Alright, alright. Let’s leave,” Sapnap pulled from his robe a couple of coins. Settling them down on the table, he began to stand up, “As apologies, I’ll even pay.”

“Neither of us drank our drinks, Sapnap. I think you should learn how to properly manage your money, and not spend it on things like this.”

“Touché.”

Following his friend, George too got up from the table. The people around, mostly fellow Hogwarts students out on a date, were still cheering for the ribbon explosion. He hoped none of them recognized who he was.

“George!” Sapnap called, and George quickly ran to his friend, who was already standing by the door. The Ravenclaw opened the door and cheekily bowed, gesturing for him to go, “Ladies first.”

George kicked his friend gently on the legs, laughing, “Stop.”

“Okay, okay,” Sapnap went out, George closed behind him. The door shut with a little jingle.

Now outside, looking around, George raised his eyebrow at the strange sight. Next to him, Sapnap seemed equally confused.

“Hey, Sapnap?” He said, trying to sound casual, “What’s going on?”

“I...uh...will have to get back to you on that.”

Nobody was around. Literally nobody. Before they came into the tea shop, the streets were filled to the brim with tourists and students, running around, chattering, enjoying their time. Now, all they could see was a little stuffed teddy bear lying abandoned in the snow.

“W-what?” George whirled his head in every direction, as if it would make somebody appear, “Hey...should we go back inside the shop?”

“Maybe…? Sapnap scratched his head, “Yeah.”

George looked back through the little glass window on the door. Inside the shop, everybody was still laughing, like nothing was wrong.

Neither of them moved for a moment. Then, Sapnap took the lead and stepped back toward the door, his hands reaching out to grab the doorknob again. George was about to follow him when they both heard a sound.

“Hey! What are you kids doing?” 

Their heads snapped to the direction the voice came from. George jumped when he saw who was just talking. Approaching them, a man in dark robe and a pair of black glasses. On his chest a very recognizable badge.

“Auror?” Beside him, Sapnap gasped, “What are aurors doing here?”

“I don’t know,” said George. Clearing his throat, he raised his volume to speak, being careful to keep his voice under control, “Uhm, hello. What do you need?”

“Do you not hear the announcement?” The auror came up to them and just stared, “You’re Hogwart students, right? You’re supposed to be evacuating to the front gate.”

“We didn’t hear any announcements.” George frowned, “Nobody here did.”

He gestured inside the tea shop. The auror tilted his head, then approached the door. Quickly, Sapnap stepped out of his way, allowing him to open it and step inside.

Heads turned their way. A few couples broke apart, a blush on their face when they recognized what was happening. From behind the counter, the shopkeeper scurried out toward the auror. They spoke in hushed whispers for a few minutes, before the auror turned back to address the students again.

“Listen up!” The auror called, “There had been an emergency at Hogsmeade. All Hogwart students are supposed to have reported to the front gate!”

All around them, noise began to break out between the students, some complained about the ruined weekend, others apologizing to their dates. But a raised hand from the auror was enough to get everybody to quiet down.

“I will not be escorting all of you to your professors!” The auror yelled, gesturing out the door, “Line up in an orderly fashion and follow me.”

And they did. After a few minutes, the auror was out of the tea shop, a group of students following behind, George and Sapnap among them.

As he examined the once busy town, now devoid of people, George couldn’t help but get a little scared. The auror hadn’t told them what the emergency was, and they were all afraid to ask. Whatever it was though, it was certainly serious enough to get everybody off the street. Not only that, shops were closed down as well, curtains pulled over so that nobody could look inside. The rainbow orbs of light had faded. The only thing left from an hour ago was the snow, drifting down gently from the night sky. But even that seemed more sad now than festive.

Nobody talked as they walked, occasional whispers among the students quickly hushed by their peers. George looked over at Sapnap and saw the younger hugging to himself, glancing around nervously at the empty streets. Quickly, he came over and placed a reassuring hand on Sapnap’s shoulder. 

The Ravenclaw gave a small nod in thanks. They continued on.

The walk took about 10 minutes. By the time the front gate of Hogsmeade finally came into view, George was already feeling a slight sore in his legs. Their group joined the rest of the students, the auror going back to his work.

George stuck with Sapnap, the two of them scanning the crowd for their third friend. There was no sight of him anywhere, but George forced his panic down. Dream was probably off to another part of the group. No big deal.

“Let’s go,” he whispered to Sapnap, and began leading them more into the middle of the crowd. Students splitted into groups, chatting among themselves. George brushed past them.

There was still no sight of Dream.

“He went off with Techno, right?” Sapnap suggested after a few minutes of searching, “Maybe if we find their crew…”

George nodded in agreement, reminding himself in his head to look out for Techno and his brothers as well.

That task, expectedly, was much easier than finding one single person. Finally, following the sound of somebody’s (Tommy’s, definitely Tommy’s) screaming, they managed to find the group. 

As George came closer to the brothers, his heart dropped to see that Dream wasn’t around. Still, he hadn’t given up hope.

“What’s going on?” He heard Sapnap asked.

“Oh, you two!” It was Phil that replied, “You didn’t hear the announcement in front of Gladrags?”

“We were kinda away then,” Sapnap smiled sheepishly. 

“Oh, that’s unfortunate,” Phil lowered his voice almost to a whisper as he began explaining, “Apparently there-”

“There are death eaters running around!” Tommy yelled loudly, “We’re gonna die!”

“No, Tommy,” Sighing, Phil patted his youngest brother on the back. Behind him, George could feel the eyes of other students burning holes into his back. He tried his best to ignore them. Phil continued, “But yes, there are death eaters around. The aurors needed everyone to clear away so they could properly search the place.”

“...Seriously?” George asked, voice a little louder than he intended. He was too shocked to care, “Death eaters?”

“That’s what they told us, yeah,” Wilbur spoke up, “In 10 minutes, we’re going back to Hogwarts.”

“10 minutes,” George sighed in relief, glad that he could steer clear of the village so soon, “Good...and where’s Dream?”

“That’s actually what we’re worried about.” Phil frowned. Crossing his arms, he scanned the people around them, “Him and Techno, we couldn’t find them.”

“They have to be around, right? They’re just hanging outside the Shrieking Shack, somebody would have found them,” Sapnap joined into the manhunt, looking around.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought too,” Phil sighed, “But then…”

“Hm?” George blinked, noticing the hesitation.

“They said they’re doing this fright match thing, right?” Phil began, and George widened his eyes at the realization.

“You think they went inside the Shrieking Shack?”

“Well, yeah, it’s kind of the whole point; right1”

George gulped. There was no way inside the Shrieking Shack, of course, but he knew Dream. Nothing could stop Dream. If those two were indeed inside, then nobody could have seen them to inform them of the emergency. 

Plus, the Shrieking Shack was even farther away from the Gladrags intersection than Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Shop, where he and Sapnap were, was. If they didn’t hear anything, there was no way Techno and Dream did while in the Shrieking Shack. 

“We only have 10 minutes,” he spoke quickly, raising his voice a bit to get everyone’s attention. It looked like everyone already had their eyes on him though, so he continued, “Dream and Techno, we have to find them.”

“We should still search the crowd first,” Wilbur interjected, “If they’re around here somewhere, and we went off to the Shrieking Shack instead, we might end up being the late one.”

“5 minutes,” Sapnap suggested, “5 minutes of searching, maybe separately. After 5 minutes, head to the bottom of the hill leading up to the Shrieking Shack. We’ll all meet there, Dream or no Dream.”

“And Techno,” Phil added.

“And Techno,” Wilbur nodded, “Me and Phil will take care of everything to the right. You two can go left. Tommy, can you go inform the teacher of what’s going on?”

“Okay, Wilbur. I’ll do that,” Tommy gave them a thumbs up, then immediately ran off without listening to any further instruction. Wilbur reached out to stop him, but he was already long gone by then.

“That _boy_ ,” Wilbur hissed, before turning to the group, “Okay, let's make the most of our time. Everyone ready?”

They all nodded.

“Alright, then go,” Wilbur gave a wave, and they all split off.

\----------------------------

Wind blew past his hair as they approached the Shrieking Shack. Occasionally, Dream turned around to check if Techno was still following him and not running off. Each time he did, Techno gave an unimpressed eyebrow raised. 

There were many legends surrounding the Shrieking Shack, most of which they both had heard already. Because of the loud noise emitting from it occasionally, it was rumored to house all things from malicious ghosts, to vampires, to werewolves, to even...unicorns. Looking at the house now though, Techno wasn’t that impressed. It just seemed like any other old shack.

“Alright,” he said when they finally reached the house, “Where do we start?”

“Uhm…” Dream reached inside his robe for his wand, “So this place doesn’t really have an entrance?”

“And so how are you going to go inside exactly?”

“Well, we did learn this spell yesterday in class…”

“Oh no.” Techno stared in disbelief, “No, no. We’re not doing that. You _failed_ that spell, remember? Quite spectacularly too.”

Dream pouted, “Yeah, but I practiced!”

“We’re looking for an entrance first, before we try any...drastic measure.” Techno put down his hand. Surprisingly, Dream didn’t argue back.

They circled around the house, searching for any sign of a door or weak wooden barricade they could kick in. Unfortunately, every entrance into this place seemed to have been blocked up by strong wood barricades. Techno tried kicking a few places he found, but nothing he did could make it budge. 

A few times, he nearly gave up.

And then, he would look behind him, and saw Dream grinning excitedly, wand prepared in hand. And always, he would say, “We’ll search one more time,” before kicking the exact same spot again to no avail.

But eventually, he ran out of “We’ll search one more time.”

Dream stopped him after their fifth check around the house. With a determined look that Techno knew very well spelled trouble, he nudged Techno away, and examined the wooden barricade the other had been kicking for the past 5 minutes. Techno had chosen that spot specificallys, recognizing the mark left behind from a poorly casted _Reparo_. Yet no matter how poorly casted, it still frustratingly held up against multiple kicks. 

But after one examination of the spot, Dream already turned back to Techno, his eyes pleading. He almost reminded Techno of a kicked puppy. Now, Techno was stubborn. He had multiple scars to prove it, most of them from duels with Dream where he just refused to give in. But even Techno, Techno, who refused to cut his hair for years just so he could do a braid, couldn’t fight against puppy eyes. 

And so he let out the words, knowing already that he’d sealed his fate, “...Bruh.”

Dream beamed, immediately going back to the barricade. Taking a deep breath, he readied his wand and yelled, “ _Reducto!”_

Nothing happened. It was just them, and the wind, and the haunted shack... 

“Oh come on!” Dream let out an annoyed yelp.

“Maybe if you ask it nicely, it would open up.” Techno rolled his eyes.

“Shut up,” Dream took a deep breath, then repeated, “ _Reducto!_ ”

This time, a blue light erupted from the wand. Blasting against the wooden beams, it split the barricade in half, sending dust and debris flying everywhere. Techno grabbed onto the collar of Dream’s robe just in time to pull him out of the danger.

They stood there for a few moments, just staring at the rubble mess they had made. Then, Dream took a step forward.

“There, easy.” He said, reaching out with his hands and pushing away the debris, revealing a path into the house, “See, I could do it.”

“I have no doubts.” 

“Just trust me next time!”

“Uh...no,” Techno replied as they both stepped over the debris and into the dark interior of the Shrieking Shack.

\----------------------------

An auror looked up through his sunglasses toward the hill where the Shrieking Shack stood. He had just come back from escorting a bunch of Hogwart students to the front gate, and was just hanging around when suddenly, he heard a sound coming from up atop the hill. Squinting his eyes through his glasses, he tried to see if anything was wrong, but nothing looked out of place with the shack.

Even so, he still eyed the shack for quite some time, just to be safe. His guts was telling him that things weren't quite right. He had half a mind to go there and check things out.

Unfortunately, before he could do anything, a colleague interrupted him The other auror came up closer, paper in hand. Reluctantly, he turned away from the Shrieking Shack to face them.

“Order from the boss, Eret,” his colleague said, “Surveillance duty. Don’t let anything out of your sight.”

Nodding, Eret hurried off to do his job, Shrieking Shack drifting away into the back of his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2! We are getting into the action now :))) 
> 
> On another note, Eret probably won't be playing a big part in this. I'll see if I can have him fit into the story later though.


	19. A Day at Hogsmeade (Part 3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was Hogsmeade weekend.

With each step they took, the wooden floor creaked. Dust clouded the place, settling in layers on the rugged couches and tables. There was barely any light in the shack, only a faint glow from the moon shining through the entrance they made.

It was obvious how old this shack was, just by looking at the state of it. Techno held in his sneeze, trying to ignore the dust particle tickling at his nose. Up ahead, he heard Dream yelped, probably tripping over some kind of furniture. 

“Want me to _Lumos_?” He called.

“No,” Dream said indignantly, “This is supposed to be a challenge.”

“Okay, no light then,” replied Techno, “Yep, who needs light anyways. Not me. Nope.”

They went further into the house. After a few minutes, his eyes got used to the darkness, and Techno could finally see what the room looked like. Large furniture like sofas and shelves had a faint outline to them that made it easier to dodge out of their way, and also give insight to where in the house they were. If Techno would have guessed, this was probably the living room of the house.

“You think there’s anything living in here?” He whispered to Dream, unsure whether or not his rival would get it.

“Probably not,” Dream didn’t get it, and Techno felt his confidence level drained a bit, “You saw it, there’s no entrance. Nobody’s been in this place for a long time.”

“You know I kept kicking that spot specifically because somebody tried to _Reparo_ it, right?” Techno said, “They did a poor job of it, probably in a hurry. Nevertheless, somebody had been in here. Maybe they could still be hanging around.”

“Yeah, but do you see anybody?” Despite the darkness, Techno could still imagine Dream rolling his eyes, “Or hear? I’m pretty sure we’re alone.” 

They looked around some more, feeling their way through a corridor. A high-pitched whistle passed through as they were walking. Both froze, glancing in every direction to see what was going on. Their hands gripped tightly onto their wand, prepared for an attack. 

Another high-pitched whistle came, and Techno finally realized, “It’s just the wind.”

“Y-Yeah?” Said Dream, his voice echoing slightly in the empty house.

“It’s just the wind, nerd. Nothing to worry about.”

“Okay, okay,” Techno could hear from his companion a deep breath, then a long exhale, “Let’s move on.”

As they moved from the corridor into some kind of kitchen, Techno went up closer to Dream. His ears went up to hear, and, although he couldn’t see what was going on, the ragged breathing coming from Dream was enough indication.

Pausing in his step, he waited for the other to go up ahead again, then strike. Jumping forward and grabbing Dream on both shoulders, he yelled, “Heh!” 

“AH!” Dream screamed, and Techno winced at the volume of it. And here he thought George was the loudest one of the trio, “Techno! What the _fuck_!?”

“Oh, that work?”

“Of fucking course it work!” Dream waved his hands wildly. Techno dodged out of the way just in time before he got hit. The other boy continued screaming, “I was already scared! There’s cobwebs and creepy old dolls and scratch marks everywhere.”

“Wait,” Brushing away a tear at the corner of his eyes, Techno said between his laughter, “Really? You’re scared”

“ _Yes_?”

“Oh…” Techno paused chuckling, returning to his usual voice, “Now I feel bad.” He reached a hand out and gently put them on Dream’s shoulder, careful not to scare the other boy more than he already had. When he felt a little tremble from his rival, Techno felt his guilt increase to the next level, “Uh…”

“Forget it,” Dream sighed, brushing his hand away, “I-I’m fine, just a little on edge.”

“I’m pretty sure you just had a heart attack, but go on.”

“This place is horrible, alright?” Grumbled Dream, “Like, look at these.”

After a beat of silence, Techno raised an eyebrow, “...Look at _what_ , Dream? You wouldn’t let me _Lumos_ , I can barely see.”

“Here.” Dream grabbed his hand, and Techno tried his best to remain calm when he felt himself being pulled forward. This is fine, he thought to himself as his hand was placed against some kind of wall.

He began feeling around it, sensing the texture and edges on the wall, frowning when he recognized what it was, “Scratches?” Techno murmured.

“My hands just brush past that while we’re walking,” said Dream, “Creeped me the heck out.”

“Huh,” Techno blinked, “Guess the local legend holds some merits.” He smoothed his hand over the wall, trying to feel what else was there. A few lumps and holes, from what he could gather, although that was probably just from decay.

Then, his hand fell right off off the wall and into the void. Techno stumbled forward, his face nearly hitting the ground. 

“Techno!” Thankfully, he heard Dream called and his hand immediately reached out for something to hold onto. He grabbed some kind of fabric, and used it to heave himself up. Unfortunately, it seemed to be Dream’s robe, from the yelp that came from the other.

When he finally could stand straight, Techno breathed a sigh of relief, “Bruh…”

“What happened?” Dream asked behind him, “Did you trip over something?”

“Wh- _No._ I would never.”

“...Techno.”

“Okay fine, but what the heck was that?” Techno placed his hand back to the place he was putting it before feeling the empty air in front of him.

“...You can _Lumos,_ ” Dream sighed.

Techno grinned and raised his wand. One spell casted later, and a white glow was emitting from the tip of it. He put it up to the wall, waving it around to see the whole area.

The first thing he saw was the scratch marks, looking far smaller than he thought they would be. There were five of them, and they looked distinctly like werewolf marks, if he could remember his DADA class correctly. 

And if he could recall, next to the marks should be…

Techno moved his wand to the area next to it. As expected, the wall cutoff there, extending forward. Blinking, he looked up at the staircase in front of them, leading to the second floor most likely.

He turned back to Dream, and held in a snicker when he saw the other’s fearful face, “Oh look, Dweam is so scared.”

“Shut up,” Dream cleared his throat nervously, “I’m not scared, shut up.”

“It’s okay, _Dweam_ , we can always leave.”

“We’re not leaving.”

“Alright then, let’s go up the spooky scary staircase.” Techno shrugged, “I don’t mind.”

He took a step forward, then another, until his foot was on the lowest set of stairs. Dream gulped as he watched, then reluctantly went forward as well, though his movement was shaky and slow.

Techno closed his eyes tiredly, “We’re not gonna get anywhere if you go at turtle pace, Dream. I thought you’re supposed to be the fast one.”

Dream didn’t reply this time, his eyes fully focused on the darkness in front of them. Seeing that, Techno reached his wand forward, trying to light up any area he could.

Then, when Dream was still not moving, he sighed, and extended a hand out.

“Huh?” Dream blinked.

“Well, you obviously can’t go up on your own,” Techno said plainly.

Dream continued to look at him, his eyes almost owlish.

“Grab my hand you nerd,” grumbled Techno, trying to keep his own nervousness under control. His confidence must be through the roof today for him to be doing this, and Techno congratulated himself on that. Now if Dream could make his decision faster... “Hurry up.”

Finally, Dream reached out and gripped his hand. Techno grabbed onto the railing of the staircase as he heaved his rival up onto the steps.

“We never speak of this,” he heard Dream whispered as together, they went up the staircase.

It was crowded with the two of them so close together, and the old, unstable railings didn’t make it better. Several times, Techno felt like he was falling backward down the stairs. He was fine, of course, but the feeling wasn’t welcome.

Finally, they got to the second floor. It looked about as old as the first, except a lot emptier. Only a long hallway extending forward, from what Techno could see with their limited light. There were also a lot of doors.

“So…” He stared at the doors lining the wall on each side, “Which one?”

“I’m fine with any but that one.” Techno followed the direction Dream was pointing, then promptly burst out laughing when he saw a grey iron door. It had no windows, and was much prettier decorated. But still, very much an iron door.

“That was one time,” He said to his rival.

“I was stuck in that broom closet for an hour. One time is enough.’

“Look,” Techno gestured to all of the other doors in the hallway, “These are all boring wooden doors. Think about the stories you could tell, Dream.”

“I’m not thinking about the stories!”

“People would be ecstatic-”

“I. AM. NOT!”

Techno opened his mouth, ready for a reply. But something suddenly made him gulp it back down again. Coming from behind the iron door was a small creak, the same one he had heard for the past half hour, whenever one of them took a step. The thing was, neither of them were moving.

“Never again!” Dream was still going on his rant, but with a single finger on his lips, Techno was able to silence him. The two of them stood, quiet, waiting. 

Dream raised an eyebrow at him questioningly. In reply, Techno pointed at his ear, and then to the iron door.

The two of them waited some more. For a moment, there was no sound.

Then, the creak came again, this time much more noticeable due to the lack of noise from their side. Techno and Dream both looked at each other, neither moving. 

Taking the initiative, Techno stepped forward, Dream followed him, though with a very unhappy expression on his face.

“Hello?” Techno called, “Anybody there?”

Dream nodded, “Any spirits?” 

“Spirits, seriously?”

“I don’t know?” Dream shrugged.

Techno sighed, “I’m gonna open this door. If you need help, knock two times.”

Of course, he wasn’t expecting any actual knocking. For all he knew, the creak could just be some random critters scurrying around. This place looked like it would have a lot of critters scurrying around. The fact that he didn’t end up hearing any knockings only solidified that.

Techno shot a glance at Dream, his hand gripping the doorknob. He began to turn it slowly when he received a nod from the other boy.

The door swung open, and they peeked inside. The first thing Techno saw was a wand pointing directly at him.

Then, someone yelled, “ _Avada Kedavra_!”

And the whole room lit up with green.

\----------------------------

Tommy pursed his lips, looking through the crowd of people. It had been 7 minutes, no sign of the others anywhere. His feet tapped against the grass impatiently as he scowled.

Beside him was an auror. Originally Tommy had planned only to talk to the Hogwarts professors, but the auror was unfortunately standing quite close by at the time, and insisted on coming when he overheard that Dream and Techno might be in the Shrieking Shack, saying something like “I knew it!”. While having somebody as skilled as an auror backing them sounded good in practice, it only added unnecessary stress when the group decided to collectively be 2 minutes late, leaving Tommy to deal with the consequences alone.

Well, 3 minutes late now, if Tommy would have to guess. A small tongue click involuntary made its way out of his mouth, and the auror immediately turned to him when he heard that.

“You friends are late?” he asked, and reluctantly, Tommy nodded, “Are you sure this is not a prank? There is more work to be done around here, and I wouldn’t want to waste my time.”

Then go do them, I never ask for you...was what Tommy wanted to say. Instead, his social skill couldn’t quite catch up in time, and he just ended up nodding awkwardly, “Uh...this is not a joke.”

“...Alright.” The auror shrugged.

They fell back into silence. Tommy’s eyes darted in every which way, trying to avoid staring at the auror. This was embarrassing, so embarrassing. Techno and Dream were probably just goofing around in that stupid shack. They could just go in, drag the two out, and not overblown the situation too much. Alas, no. Because fucking Wilbur decided he should be the one going to talk to the teacher. Probably assumed it was the least difficult job or something

Fucking Wilbur.

“What was that, Tommy?” Tommy jumped. Snapping out of his thought, he looked up to see who was talking to him. Unfortunately, he already had a suspicion he knew who it was.

That suspicion was confirmed when his eyes met with Wilbur’s. His brother stared down at him, smiling dangerously.

“Care to repeat that,” He said.

“Uh…” Tommy’s eyes drifted to the side, avoiding what was straight ahead, “What?”

“Oh Tommy, you didn’t even realize you said that aloud, did you?” Wilbur cleared his throat, his voice changing to a higher-pitch, “Fucking Wilbur. Fuck him, wahhh. I’m a child.”

“I do not sound like that!”

“I have bad news for you-”

“Tommy! Wilbur!” Phil interrupted, putting his arms between them, “We need to focus on what to do next.”

Tommy leaned over and looked behind Wilbur, just now realizing that their whole group was back together. Of course, Phil and Wilbur were beside him. But George and Sapnap were also there, talking quietly to the auror to the side.

“You didn't find them?” Tommy asked his brothers. They both shook their heads.

“None of the teachers had either,” Phil added, sighing, “God, I shouldn’t have encouraged them to go…”

“Don’t stress over that,” Wilbur patted him on the back, “Now we know for sure that they’re still in the Shrieking Shack.”

“Yeah…” said Phil, head turning to look up at the top of the hill, where the shack stood, “I guess we’ll be heading there now. Is everyone ready?”

The other two both nodded. After a moment, George and Sapnap, along with the auror, also joined them. 

Phil took the leading step, and together, the group set out toward the Shrieking Shack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After this short arc, I'll probably take a break. Been stress about school lately. Sorry y'all


	20. A Day at Hogsmeade (Part 4)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was Hogsmeade weekend.

The moment he realized what the spell was, Dream jumped out of the way. His eyes darted wildly, looking for a place to hide. There was a flash of green light behind him, illuminating the room enough for Dream to be able to see. But unfortunately, it only made him realize that there was nothing near him. The furniture was too far away, he was out in the open.

Briefly he spotted Techno, on the other side of the room, dashing to a sofa and disappearing behind its cover. Then, somebody speaking again, chanting another spell. His heart raced and Dream turned his head to look at the furniture nearby. There was a bookshelf right close to him, and his wand automatically raised, the image of the shelf forming in his head.

“ _Avada Kedavra_!”

“ _Accio_ bookshelf!” Yelled Dream. The bookshelf teleported right where he wanted it to, in front of him as a cover. 

There was a pause, then a green burst of light erupted from the other side of the shelf. Dream stumbled as the bookshelf was pushed against him by the force of the curse. It lasted only for a second, before the room fell back into pitch black. Dream, back pressed against the bookshelf, took a moment to catch his breath. 

But there was no time. “ _Stupefy_ !” Dream heard a familiar voice yelled, realizing it was Techno a moment after. Peeking over the shelf, Dream spotted two shadowy hooded figures. One was facing him, the other one turning the opposite direction, their wand raised. Techno’s _Stupefy_ shot toward them, an angry burst of red. But it was stopped with a single _Protego_ from the figure with their wand raised.

As if surprised, the figure that had, until this moment, been facing him whirled around to look at their partner. Taking advantage of the distraction, Dream rushed over to a nearby sofa chair, which he had been able to spot with Techno’s spell. He felt his way around it, crouching down where the figures wouldn’t be able to see him.

But they weren't paying attention to him. Leaning his head over the side of the couch, he saw the two of them, mere blurred outlines in the darkness. Their heads were both facing the sofa Techno was supposedly behind. 

Then, one of them took a step forward.

And another. Dream held his breath, wand readied in case he needed to help his rival.

Then, when one of the figures was right near the couch, it suddenly kicked out, hitting the figure in the legs. Stumbling backward and letting out an aggressive cry, the figure fell to the ground.

And now, bursting out from behind his cover, was Techno. Dream could only hear where he was headed, the darkness not letting him see that far away. But still, he turned his head, following the sound. A soft footsteps of Techno running, the angry snarling of the figure, he tried to picture it in his head, as if he was seeing this not in darkness but in broad daylight.

Then there was a yelp, like somebody stumbling and tripping over. Widening his eyes, Dream peeked his head fully out to see what was going on. To his horror, the person on the ground was pointing his wand toward something, already muttering an incarnation. He could hear shuffling, like Techno was desperately trying to get back on his feet. 

But there was not enough time. By the look of it, he wasn’t protected at all. So as the figure raised their wand, Dream did the same, although he yelled a very different spell.

“ _Avis_!”

“ _Avada Kedavra_!” Once again, the Killing Curse, just as Dream had predicted. A flash of green burst out of their wand just as a flock of birds appeared from his, flying toward where he thought Techno was. The birds covered the other Slytherin, who was still on the floor, very much distracted by the sudden flying creatures in front of him. He only moved when he saw Dream staring at him.

The Killing Curse had been shot right to where Techno was. But instead of hitting him, it came in contact with one of the birds. It fell to the ground, dead. The rest of the flock scattered, and Dream willed some of them toward the two figures.

He had only intended them to annoy the two figures, maybe fly around and distract them a bit. But instead, judging from the human hollering coming from that spot, the birds might have gone for a more aggressive approach, maybe putting their claws to good use. Nevertheless, Dream couldn’t complain. Panting, he looked to where he last saw Techno, and spotted the other raising his wand.

“ _Expelliarmus."_ Techno casted. The spell shot toward one of the figures, and Dream quickly commanded the birds to disperse, in case the spell hit one of them. Thankfully, they moved out of the way just in time, and one of the shadows was hit with Techno’s Disarming Charms.

And disarming was exactly what it did. Wooden wand hit the floor, and Dream directed his eyes right to where it landed. Light from _Expelliarmus_ had given him enough time to see what it was. Now, the hours of memory practice had taken over as he began to form the wand image in his head and once again casted, “ _Accio_ wand!” 

Although he could no longer see it in the dark, he could hear the sound in the air as it flew toward his outstretched hand. The moment it was in his grasp, Dream held the wand by both ends and promptly snapped it in two.

\----------------------------

Immediately after they reached the Shrieking Shack, Sapnap knew something was wrong. Other than the house's usual quiet eeriness, there was a...feeling, that things were not what they seemed.

“There’s no entrance to this place,” the auror was the first to speak, “So I’m still curious how your friends would get inside.”

“Oh, they’ll find a way,” Sapnap replied, shrugging. With how stubborn Dream was, brick walls weren't about to stop him, “The question should be _how_ they got inside.”

And so the group split up again. Casting _Lumos_ , they went around the house, and even examined the area surrounding it in case there was a secret entrance. As for Sapnap, he just stared straight at the shack, looking at it to see if there were any clues. 

From where he was standing, he could see a few cracks in the wooden barricades, allowing someone to peer into the house. However, when he tried looking into the ones that he could reach, there was nothing but darkness. Even _Lumos_ couldn't help, unable to light up more than a small area.

So he just took a step back, put away his wand, and let his eyes adjust to the darkness. After a few seconds, he could make out the details of the shack in the dark. Somehow, that was way spookier than when he could only see some of it. Boarded up windows, cobwebs, out of place bricks. This place was abandoned, with only legends keeping it alive. 

He shivered. Dream was usually a huge scaredy cat, so he didn’t know how the other handled it this time. Even Sapnap was scared, and he had a freaking auror backing him! He turned from the sight, for the sake of a good night sleep. But right before he could look away fully, Sapnap saw something through one of the cracks on the second floor window.

He blinked, rubbing his eyes. Had he imagined it? It was quite late, after all.

But no. A few seconds later, a flash of green once again shone through the tiny cracks. He could only remember one spell with that colour, and with the death eaters problems in this village right now…

Gasping, Sapnap looked to the others. They were all distracted, so he grabbed the nearest one to him, the auror. Speaking quickly, he explained what he just saw.

The auror widened his eyes as he listened to Sapnap. Finally, after a moment of thought, he replied with a serious, “Are you absolutely sure?”

Furiously, Sapnap nodded. Even if he was wrong, he wasn’t taking chances with Dream and Techno still in there.

“Then we have to hurry.” The auror took a step toward the house.

As if on cue, George yelled from the other side of the shack, his voice yelling over the billowing wind, “We found the entrance! Come here!” 

Sapnap exchanged a look with the auror, before both of them hurried over.

\----------------------------

At this point they won’t even need _Lumos_ anymore. 

Techno winced as another green flash of light blew past where he was hiding, missing his hair by centimeters. The whole room was lit up by light from the Killing Curses as the two death eaters by the door, he assumed they were death eaters, continued to spam the spell. 

Well, one of them was. The other one didn’t have their wand anymore, after the stunt Dream pulled. Techno could still hear the crackle of the wood ringing in his ears, and he made a note to be more careful around Dream next time they dueled. 

The death eaters were already mad enough when Techno decided it was a great idea to kick the couch he was hiding behind into one of them. And with Dream’s birds, most of whom were dead at this point, clawing at their faces, and Dream himself destroying one of their wand. It was an understatement to say they weren’t happy. Techno looked over to where Dream was hiding, behind a closet on the other side of the room. After the wand was broken, they both made a mad dash for cover as the death eater went on a rampage. Now they were just standing there, waiting. 

Just waiting. If Techno had to be honest, he was kind of bored. This was why spamming spells wasn’t allowed in normal duels, especially ones of the killing kind that you can’t block with _Protego_. They couldn’t even escape, with the death eaters blocking the entrance.

Without anything to do, he waved at Dream, who looked confused for a moment before waving back. 

The curses continued.

Finally, he had enough. Glancing over to Dream, he nodded in the direction of the death eaters. 

Dream tilted his head. 

Techno gestured to his throat, and then made a slash across it. 

Dream raised an eyebrow.

Techno pointed at the other Slytherin, and then tapped his head. Hopefully Dream understood and started with his planning. One more minute of this and Techno would just jump out there and improvise with ancient Chinese tactics.

Dream gave a nod, and Techno leaned back against his cover. He folded his arms, and patiently waited for the other boy to think up something. Briefly, he shot a glance at the two death eaters. The wandless one was cowering behind their partner who was still yelling Avada this Kadabra that.

“Listen, I’m going to protect you. We’re getting through this together,” Techno heard them yell between casting. The cowering death eater nodded timidly.

Techno looked away. Too much of that, and he was going to start feeling emotion again. Instead, he directed his thought back to his rival, who seemed to be trying to get his attention anyways. Nodding at Dream, he gestured at the other boy to go on.

Hesitantly, Dream pointed at him, then held up his hands a few centimeters apart. Slowly, he closed a gap between them, until they were right next to each other. Then, he made a punching motion.

Techno frowned until he realized what it meant. Waving his hands, he signaled Dream to go on.

The other Slytherin boy made a circular weaving motion with his hand, like he was trying to make it go around something invisible. Although more complicated a gesture than previously, it didn’t take long for Techno to figure this one out. It was, after all, one of his strategies.

He tapped his chin thoughtfully, then looked forward, waiting for an opportunity. It quickly came, there was a pause in spells as the death eater took time to catch their breath, and as they did, Techno popped his head out from behind the couch. He took a brief second to examine his surroundings, making notes of all the furniture in front of him. Then he went back into hiding again, and gave a nod back at Dream.

They could try that. 

Gleefully, Dream grinned. 

Techno raised an eyebrow, holding up three fingers. “On three?” He mouthed silently.

Dream hesitated, then shook his head. He pointed at Techno, then to himself, and showed two fingers. Techno nodded, and gave a small wave, signaling Dream to start. 

“...Let’s do this!” Dream waited a moment, then yelled, making sure it was loud enough for the two death eaters to hear. The curses suddenly stopped as they processed what was going in.

“What-” one of them snarled, “You bloody fucks, what are you-”

“On three!” Dream shouted over whatever they were going to say next. Techno readied himself, getting up on one knee, “...One!”

Taking a deep breath, he glanced over at Dream. But just as quickly did he looked back to the path before him. He trusted his rival to be able to get it done.

“...Two!” With the shout, Techno rushed out from behind the couch. With the death eaters expecting them to go out on three, they have some seconds before their opponent fully realized what was going on.

He focused on his goal, the next hiding spot. The couch he was heading to was positioned somewhat weirdly, meaning he had to go around the arms before he was in the clear. Thankfully, with the delay reaction, he was able to spot and dodged out of the way of a Killing Curse. His hair blew back from its force, but he remained completely safe as he made his way over to the next cover.

In the middle of his way, Techno made sure to shoot a _Stupefy_ at the death eaters. They easily blocked it with a _Protego_ , but it was only to pressure them.

That was it, pressure. Overwhelm your opponent, don’t let them have time to catch their breath. 

On the other side of the room, he heard Dream yell, “ _Accio_ bookshelf!” which probably meant the other Slytherin was forgoing dodging all together and instead shielding himself with summoned items. With assurance that Dream would be fine. Techno went on. 

The next place he could go to was the table right near the death eaters. He dashed for it when the opponent was distracted with Dream, encircling around the couch and running to the table, shooting them with a short _Expelliarmus_ on his way. They blocked it, once again with _Protego._

A Killing Curse was shot at him. He dodged out of the way, rolling on the ground right to his destination.

With Techno distraction. The death eater wasn’t able to have enough time to cast another _Avada Kedavra_ at Dream, who was running to his next spot. Instead, they went with a shorter, _Stupefy_ Techno applauded them for the variety and quick-thinking. Unfortunately for them, they hadn’t fought Dream enough times to figure out what his specialty was. 

While his defensive spells were useless against the Killing Curse, _Stupefy_ was fair game. “ _Protego_ ,” Calmly, Dream said. The invisible shield formed in front of him and easily batted away the death eater’s spell. Techno looked away as his rival made it through to his spot safely.

There they were, in the dark, hiding behind furniture that were directly on either side of the death eaters. Their opponents had stopped spamming _Avada Kedavra_ , and were now huddling together, their one wand raised in warning.

“Whatever you throw at me, I can block!” One of them yelled, “A single Killing Curse, and you’re _dead_!”

Techno rolled his eyes. Crouching behind the table, he waited in pitch black, forcing his breath to calm down. 

While it was the plan to just go out and start punching, with the darkness, maybe stealth was another option. He hadn’t discussed this with Dream yet, he couldn’t. But if there was anything he trusted the other in, it was quick-thinking in a fight. 

So, with his action mapped out in his mind, Techno slowly came out of his cover.

The last time he moved in the dark, he had unfortunately tripped over onto the floor, nearly getting himself killed if not for the save from Dream. But this time, he was armed with much more understanding of his surroundings, having the time to assess the room and light from the spell spamming to see.

Slowly, he stepped toward the death eater.

“Come out, wherever you are!” They were still shouting. Little do they know their voices were masking the sounds of Techno’s footsteps.

He caught the Dream’s eyes peeking out from behind a bookshelf. Slowly, Techno gestured toward the death eaters. Dream blinked at him, then, after a moment of hesitation, nodded.

With that, Techno sprang into action. Going for the nearest target, the death eater with the wand, he tackled them, and managed to push the death eater to the ground.

“ _Lumos,_ ” He casted. The tip of his wand glowed, allowing him to see what was going on around him.

To his right, Dream had done the same with the other death eater. Techno watched as the other Slytherin punched his opponent in the chin. With his target off-balance, he smoothly slid his leg between his target’s thigh gap and kicked the back of their knees, making them collapse to the floor.

Techno gave a bored hum, “Impressive.”

“Come on. You got to admit that was cool,” Dream pinned his death eater down, then look over to Techno, “Oh, _Expelliarmus!”_

Techno glanced down at his opponent just in time to see them grabbing onto their wand. Then, Dream’s spell hit and knocked it away again.

“...I could have handled that,” Techno rolled his eyes, “Now everyone is gonna say you saved and I'll never hear the end of it.”

“Hey, you just have been using _Expelliarmus_ a whole bunch. I want in too.”

“Really. Then…” Techno spotted the death eater under him reaching out for their wand again, and promptly grabbed it before they could. Then, with a quick snap, he broke the wand in two, much to the death eater’s horror, “Kay, now we’re even.”

Casually, he casted _Incarcerous,_ a spell he’d learn from Phil, on the death eater. Ropes appeared from thin air, tying the death eater up.

He then resumed _Lumos_ again.

“No! You bloody-” The other death eater yelled as they watched their partner get tied up, though their voice was muffled mid-sentence by their head getting pressed against the floor.

Raising his wand as he continued pressing down, Dream prepared to cast a stunning spell on the death eater, “Petrifi-”

“ _No_!” The death eater continued shouting. They wiggles from underneath Dream’s hold, forcing him to stop his casting in order to pin them down again. 

But by then, it was too late. 

Techno saw it all in slow motion. The little time Dream had given the death eater when he stopped casting had enabled them to point their finger at him, and yelled.

“ _Imperio_!”

Wandless magic.

Why they hadn’t tried and used it before, Techno didn’t know. Maybe it was kept as a secret last resort weapon, maybe they hadn’t mastered it yet. Whatever the case, Techno could be careless. The only thing he was focused on right now was Dream’s face as it went blank, his eyes dulling from a mellow green to a cloudy dark emerald.

He couldn’t do anything as he sat there staring at his rival, too shocked to react. He couldn’t do anything as Dream slowly raised his wand, his hand trembling, mouth opening to say, “A-Ava...Avada-”.

“ _Flipendo_!” Another voice screamed, and Techno snapped out of his shock just as Dream was hit by a spell. His rival was sent backward, his head hitting the wall before he collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.

Techno whirled his head around to look at the group by the doorway. His brothers, Dream’s friends. They were all there, along with one other person donning sunglasses, the one who had shot the spell. An auror, judging from the badge on his robe.

“Guys!” Gasped Techno, “Uh...can you…”

He looked down at the floor, to where the death eater who had casted wandless magic was. They were trying to crawl away, eyes widening in fear when they realized everybody was watching them 

“Step back you fools! You saw what I did to that boy!” Their hand shot outward, as if it could shield them against any attack. But the aggression turned quickly into pleading, “Please, not Azkaban. I beg of you-”

Their words fell to deaf ears. Techno turned his head away, focusing instead on his family, who were crowding all around him. Sapnap and George merely dodged the crawling death eater on the floor, going further into the room to help their friend.

The only one that acknowledged them was the auror, who took one glance down at the death eater, and casted a _Stupefy_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first time I've choreograph a complicated fight lol, let me know how I did. Felt kinda bad that I give Techno and Dream free reign over their spells while have the death eaters be compliant to canon HP (Killing Curse go brrrrrr). 
> 
> Here I would be ranting about the different fighting style but tbh it's a lot, so if you really wanna know then tell me in the comment :)


	21. A Day at Hogsmeade (End)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was Hogsmeade weekend.

It was late afternoon when Dream awoken. Sunlight shone through the window of the school’s Hospital Wing, enveloping the room in a warm golden glow. There were all kinds of sounds around him. People moving around, talking in whispers. A cauldron was boiling nearby. Doors were opening and closing.

But when he opened his eyes, all of that disappeared as he took in the sight before him. Sitting by his bed were George and Sapnap, heads leaning against each other, lightly snoring. Sapnap had a slight bit of drool dripping down his mouth, and George’s goggles were off-centered on his face, nearly falling down to his neck. 

Dream couldn't help himself, he snickered a bit. Unfortunately, that was enough to wake his friends up. Blearily, Sapnap opened his eyes, widening them when he saw Dream. 

He elbowed George roughly, “Oi, wake up!”

“What the heck, Sapnap?” yelped George as he tiredly sat up straighter on his chair, pushing his glasses back to its place, “I was slee-”

Sapnap rolled his eyes at the Hufflepuff, “Dream’s awake, you idiot.”

“Dream’s awake…” George blinked, “DREAM’S AWAKE?”

Immediately, Dream brought a pillow up to plug his ears. He saw Sapnap did the same, although he used the blanket nearest to him instead. Coincidentally, that was Dream’s blanket. The Slytherin exclaimed as he was roughly pulled along with his cover toward the edge of the bed. Thankfully, Sapnap stopped before he could fall completely off. 

Still, one of his legs was now uncovered, and it was surprisingly cold inside the room, “Sapnap, what the fuck?!”

“It’s George’s fault!”

“Mine? You’re the one who pulled him!”

“Yeah, but you screamed!”

“...Yeah, well it’s not my fault that Dream has no socks on!”

“I just woke up, George, how could I have socks!?” Dream shouted, sitting up and dragging the blanket away from Sapnap. Stubbornly, Sapnap held onto his end, and the tug-of-war lasted for a few seconds before George tipped Sapnap’s chair back, forcing him to let go to regain his balance.

“Hah!” Dream laughed in triumph as he regained control of all his blanket. Draping it over himself, he basked in its warmth. 

“It’s not fair, George helped you,” Grumbled Sapnap when he finally got back on his chair.

“Stay mad, loser,” Dream took a deep breath, and collapsed back onto his bed. He was surprised to see himself panting hard. 

Sapnap must have noticed too, because he suddenly stopped glaring. Leaning in and, he adjusted the blanket so that it covered Dream even more. Then carefully, he checked his friend’s temperature. Dream wasn’t quite sure that was how it worked, he wasn’t sick or anything, but the effort was appreciated. 

“You’ve been out for pretty long,” George explained quietly, “ Everyone was worried.”

“They nearly arrested you!” Sapnap exclaimed, “Techno had to explain that you were under  _ Imperio _ , else they would have sent you to Azkaban!”

Dream blinked as the memories of what happened came back to him. He remembered one of the figures pointing at him, then…

Then it was blank. It was like he was asleep after that, everything was blissful emptiness.

“I don’t remember,” Dream widened his eyes, “D-Did I hurt anyone?”

“No, don’t worry.” Sapanp was quick to assure him, “We got there and then you were knocked out.”

“What? Somebody knocked me out!?” 

“Yeah…”

Dream cringed. Sitting up, he glanced down at his body to see if he had any injuries. Thankfully, it didn’t seem like it, “Couldn’t you have gone with something less harmful, like tying me up? There’s plenty of spells that do that.”

“I-It was in the heat of the moment,” Sapnap cleared his throat, “And uhm…you might have been...”

“Might have been what?”

In the corner of his eyes, Dream saw George nudging Sapnap discreetly. The two shared a look, before Sapnap cleared his throat again, “Nothing. It’s nothing.”

“No,” Dream said plainly, not even looking them in the eyes, “Tell me.”

Sapnap gulped, but still wasn’t saying anything. 

“Sapnap,” Dream repeated, a little more firmness in his voice this time.

“...I’ll explain.” George put a hand out in front of Sapnap, his voice quiet, “You were casting the Killing Curse at Techno. We couldn’t let you do it.”

“What?” Dream blinked, his brain trying to process the new information. After a few seconds, he repeated, “... _ What _ !?”

“It’s not your fault, Dream,” Immediately, Sapnap spoke up, “You were being controlled. It wasn’t you that did it.”

“Fuck…” Dream rubbed his eyes, still trying to comprehend what he did, “Avada Kedavra? Really, I tried that?”

His friends said nothing.

“...My parents won’t be happy when they hear about this.” sighed Dream, slumping back down onto the bed, “And knowing them, they’ll probably be madder about me getting  _ Imperio  _ than the whole killing thing.”

There was silence. Then, slowly, Sapnap started chuckling, “That does sounds like something they wouldn do.” George followed soon after, bursting out into a loud laughter before calming into a quieter snicker.

Dream smirked, raising his voice to a higher pitch, “Didn’t we teach you how to resist that 23 years ago-” He started wheezing, unable to contain it any longer, “Whe-when you're minus fifteen years old??”

Noise echoed in the empty room as the trio broke into another fit of laughter. George leaned onto the arm of his chair, grabbing his stomach. Sapnap, wiping tears off his eyes, playfully punched Dream on the shoulder, “Come on, dude!”

Dream, too drained from laughing so much, couldn’t reply. But he didn’t have to. Just laying there, watching his friends smiling, their eyes crinkling, that was enough for him.

He was glad to come out of that fight alive and relatively unhurt. Although he wouldn’t admit it, he was scared back then, terrified. Especially when Techno had asked him to come up with a plan. The pressure was on, and he very nearly cracked until he remembered all those who would be relying on him to get both of them out alive.

And even then, he’d almost messed up. At the very end, when the figures were just waiting, wand at the ready. He nearly jumped out at them, fist punching, despite it probably being a better idea to attack the opponent unexpectedly, to use the darkness to their advantage. Thank god Techno got it down before he could mess up. One Killing Curse to the face when he was charging at them would result in his death, and although Dream would call his dodging skill above average, it was better to be safe than sorry.

And although there was the  _ Imperio  _ problem at the end, everything ended up alright. He won’t be complaining.

“Is Techno okay then, he’s not dead or anything?” Dream asked when they had all finally calmed down.

“Yeah, he’s fine,” Sapnap nodded, “Just some scratches from tripping and running around that dark room. Some healing spells and he was peachy. You haven’t Avada Kedavra him or anything.”

“Thank god,” Dream sighed in relief, “Wouldn’t want to kill him. I still have to beat his score in finals.”

“Is that what you’re worried about?.” Sapnap chuckled, “Because I can assure you, you’re missing the real danger here."

“...Oh right,” George glanced at the clock hanging on the wall, “I think it’s about time class is done.”

“What do you mean?” Dream looked between them, “What could possibly-”

He paused, eyes widening. Just as he realized what the answer was, the door of the infirmary burst open, and somebody made their way inside. Immediately paling, Dream gingerly put his hands up in surrender, ready to hear the rant that was about to come.

“You muffinhead!” Bad screamed as he stormed over, holding his wand like you would a knife, “I didn’t go to Hogsmeade for one weekend-”

Next to Dream, George and Sapnap could only watch in pity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chappppterrrrrr. Yep, break after this. Hope ya have enjoy the story so far :D 
> 
> Hopefully I will have garner my will to write back by the time of Christmas. Would be a shame to miss out on the holidays.


	22. Over Winter Break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tubbo stayed at Hogwarts during the break.

Shadows of his memory danced through the hall as Tubbo looked around. If it was per usual, then Tommy would be beside him at this point, complaining about his brothers or making fun of the teachers. Maybe Wilbur would join them, Techno too if he wasn’t busy. Phil would be waiting for them all at the dining hall, getting ready to lecture them on any mischief that happened to be going on. 

But it wasn't the usual. It was winter break, a festive time for anybody else, but for Tubbo, it just meant that he would be alone at Hogwarts for two weeks. The others had already gone home to their family, but he had to stay behind, his family having informed him that they would be abroad for the time.

Just stay put. Happy holiday, son. They had written that in their letter, which Tubbo had thrown away soon after. They were busy, he knew, but it still felt so lonely at the castle. 

Well, he wasn’t completely alone, he guessed. Bad was still here, along with his friend, Skeppy. Tubbo didn’t know them very well, but over the last few days they had found themselves chatting, if only because there was nobody else to hang out with. Being all muggle-born, it was refreshing to hear that somebody else shared his struggles in the wizarding world.

Remembering back to his first year at Hogwarts, when he had nearly fainted seeing a ghost for the first time, Tubbo chuckled. The hallway, devoid of its usual crowd, echoed back his voice.

Ah, he shouldn’t complain too much about it. Just a few more days and his friends would be back from vacation. Tubbo could hear their voices already. Tommy kinda obnoxious laugh. Wilbur’s mocking tone. Even Techno monotone voices. 

Just a few more days.

\----------------------------

One of the things about staying at school over break was that it was just plain...boring. There were no classes, any extracurricular activities were temporarily paused, not even the duelling hall stayed open, since there weren’t enough teachers at the school to supervise it. A typical day, therefore, consisted of breakfast, going to the library, practice spells and do homework, lunch, dinner, then repeat. 

Tubbo sighed for the fourth time as he read the book page again. The library was quiet around him, only a few students hanging around a nearby table. 

It had been 5 minutes. 5 whole minutes he had been on this page, but he kept drifting off in his thoughts and was unable to continue past it, no matter how hard he tried.

“Alright,” murmuring to himself, Tubbo stared at the words before him, “Let’s try this again.”

His eyes drifted down the lines, absorbing in its information. It worked...for a bit. Then, he spotted a barn owl outside the library window, and thought back about that time Techno revealed to them all how he watched birds to tell what season it was.

“You’re fucking weird, big man,” was Tommy’s comment of that, and Tubbo couldn’t help but agreed with him.

A smile graced his face as the memory played out in his head, but it went away once Tubbo realized that he  _ still  _ hadn’t gotten past the page.

“Maybe another day,” he sighed, putting the book aside.

\----------------------------

Did he say before that it was boring during break?

Well, scratch that now. It was certainly  _ not  _ boring. Not with Skeppy still around. 

“How did a Chameleon Ghoul even make it inside the castle anyways?” Tubbo asked for what seemed like the thousandth times as he laid on the floor in order to look under the bed. Sun shone through the yellow hued dormitory, and oh how he wished he could be outside instead.

“Uh...it was an accident,” Replied the upperclassmen. There was a crash behind him, and Tubbo turned around to see Skeppy sprawled on his back, looking up to the ceiling.

“Yes?”

“I thought it was one of the hanging plant pots,” Shaking his head, Skeppy sat up, “Anyway, please don’t tell the teacher. I already got a week of detention after break.”

“...Alright, but you owe me,” Tubbo blinked when he spotted a shadow passing under the bed. After a moment, it went by again. 

“Yeah, yeah. I won’t prank you for 2 months, how about that?”

Lying as flat as he could, Tubbo reached his hand out, “How about you promise to prank somebody I request once?”

He couldn’t see his hand due to the darkness, but he could feel the dust sticking to his skin as he reached deeper. Passing through some throwaway papers and trash, he came across something that felt wet and slimy.

“Deal,” Brushing the dust off his shoulder, the Gryffindor looked up, “Hey, what are you doing? Found it?”

Tubbo shrugged, before pulling his arm out from under the bed. In his hand was a golden statue.

“Is that it?”

“Uh…” Shaking the statue furiously, Tubbo jumped when it suddenly turned into a slime, “Yep, it is!”

The ghoul bounced out of his hand, leaving behind a puddle of sticky slime behind. Yelping, Tubbo tried to shake the substance off as Skeppy leapt after the ghoul. More furniture was knocked over, before the Gryffindor stood up again.

“Got it” In victory, Skeppy lifted up...a licorice stick, “Wait…”

Tubbo groaned, “It’s still jumping over there! Behind you!”

“Shoot,” Skeppy whipped around, trying to follow the movement of the ghoul, “Shoot, shoot, no!”

\----------------------------

“How did you two manage to coat my entire dorm in slime?” Seeing the look on Bad’s face now, Tubbo couldn’t believe how sweet the upperclassman usually was. The Hufflepuff towered over them both, as they sat obediently on the couch in front of him.

“It was the ghoul,” Skeppy spoke up first, and Tubbo silently thanked him for tanking this blow, “Not us.”

“Yes, we actually exorcise it for you.”

“Yep.”

Bad huffed, “And you’re not the one who released the ghoul into my room in the first place?”

“Nope,” Skeppy shook his head, “Now why would you ever think that?”

“Alright…” And the smile was back on Bad’s face. Somehow Tubbo found it even scarier than his anger, maybe because of how sugar sweet it appeared, “Then there’s nothing to worry about!”

Skeppy, apparently not taking the hint, blinked, “Wait, you believe that?”

“Haha,” Bad grinned, “ _ No _ .”

\----------------------------

After an hour of lecturing, Tubbo collapsed on the couch, next to a very much winded Skeppy. Before them, Bad paused in his speech to regain his breath, then declared their final verdict, “And no muffin for you two ever again!”

“ _ Ever _ ?” Skeppy gasped.

“...Okay, maybe not ever,” Bad put his hands on his hips, “But a month! A month without muffins!”

“No…” Skeppy wilted, draping himself over the velvet sofa of the Hufflepuff dormitory, “ Woe is me, how could I ever survive…”

At this point, Tubbo was out of breath to even laugh. Tears formed at the corner of his eyes, and his mouth, which had permanently fixed into a smile, hurted from strained muscle.

“Now go back to your dormitory, you two!”

“Yeah, alright,” Pulling himself up, Tubbo beelined for the Ravenclaw dorm. His lungs still hurt from laughing so much, and the slime on his hand ensured that he wouldn’t forget about this incident any time soon.

But the smile slowly, inevitably faded as he went, his mind slowly drifting back to the thought of his friends. It was fun today, hanging out with Skeppy, but just...didn’t feel the same. Not without Tommy beside him. 

He couldn’t help but sniffle a bit. Suddenly, the tears in the corner of his eyes didn’t feel quite so light anymore.

Dejectedly, he answered the eagle knocker’s riddle, and entered the Ravenclaw dormitory. His legs instinctively took him to the staircase leading up to his room, but before he could, his fellow housemates stopped him.

“You’re not going to check your presents?”

“Presents?” Tubbo blinked. Oh right, it was nearly Christmas. Around this time, people would be sending him gifts. He looked to the pine tree to the side of the common room, and there they were, wrapped presents, piling at the trunk.

“There are quite a few for you,” one of his housemates laughed. 

Kneeling down, Tubbo pulled the gifts with his name closer. One of them was from his parents, a souvenir from the country they were visiting, which he set aside, reminding himself later to put it with the rest of the souvenirs he received. 

Bad and Skeppy had gotten him gifts too, he’d have to thank them later. A box of cookies and a dish with his name on it (a prank trap, he presumed, knowing Skeppy). Then there was Dream present, which was a toy bee that could fly on its own. 

Dream’s friends, Sapnap and George had both gotten him candies and sweets. He was sent discs by Wilbur, thankfully not electronically-powered, and Phil ordered him a batch of fake protection potions. Tubbo chuckled at that, remembering how much healing and protection potions Phil had sent him the previous years. This was probably revenge, given how Tubbo had told him he’d accidentally thrown all those potions away.

Techno got him a book on spells, and called him a nerd in the letter. It was to be expected, and Tubbo gratefully settled the book aside, adding it to his ever-growing reading list.

Then there was one box left.

Carefully unwrapping the decorative paper, Tubbo took out from the rather small box a circular device with a needle at the center of it. Accompanying the box was a letter, which Tubbo went to the common room couch to read by the fire.

And if he accidentally fell asleep on that couch while clutching the device and the letter, well, he could just blame it on the exhaustion of chasing a ghoul all day. Everyone could be none the wiser.

\----------------------------

_ Dear Toob, _

_ Break been fun at school? Here, living with my brothers has been hell (Wilbur threw water on me this morning! Can you even believe?). Couldn’t wait ‘til I get back to Hogwarts. _

_ Anyway, I got you this present. Came across it on a shopping trip and apparently it points to the thing you miss the most. So I thought, since y’know, you always forget stuff, why not get this for you? But uh...a warning, it might be malfunctioning (not my fault). The needle kept pointing toward me, but well...that’s not too bad right? _

_ Techno just said it sucks, but Techno can go fuck himself.  _

_ And with that….Happy Holidays! I’ll be returning to school in a week or so. Wait for me, yeah? _

_ Sincerely yours, _

_ Tommy _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I said I was on break, but it's nearly Christmas I can't miss out on that. So here, have a short one, not my best work, sorry, I wrote it in a pinch haha
> 
> Ayyway, back to the break now. Have a happy holiday everybody!


	23. The Dueling Hall That Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They met for the first time in the dueling hall. Quite fitting, really.

“Expelliarmus!” His wand hung uselessly in the air, not as much as a spark coming forth from its tip. Techno gritted his teeth, yelling once more, “Expelliarmus!”

Yet again, nothing happened.

His heavy breathing echoed through the stone cold dueling hall. With a frustrated sigh, Techno let his wand drop to the floor, before collapsing too himself. Wiping sweat from his brows, he looked up in despair at the ceiling.

Perhaps it was still too early. This was a second-year spell after all, he was still just in his first year at Hogwarts. But with how easily any other spells had come up until now, it was hard not to get impatient. Half-heartedly picking up his fallen wand from the floor, Techno casted the Disarming Charm again. Expectedly, nothing happened.

Techno sighed. For a moment, he just sat there, staring blankly at the wall, not thinking of anything.

But just as quickly, he snapped out of it. Now was not the time to get discouraged, he forced himself to feel. Steeling his resolve, the Slytherin picked himself up off the floor and readied his wand again, facing the wall.

But just as he was about to cast another spell, Techno heard a sound coming from behind him. The unmistakable screeching of the hall’s door opening rang out through the room, and in his mind, Techno began panicking. There shouldn’t be anybody in the hall, that was why he’d specifically chosen to practice this early in the morning. At this time, most other students would still be asleep or getting ready for their classes. Nobody should be here. 

And yet, the sound didn’t lie. Turning around, Techno was faced with another student, peeking into the room with a scowl on his face. The first thing he noticed was the emblem on the other’s robe. Emerald green, with the signature s-shaped snake of their house.

“What are you doing here?” The other Slytherin spoke first, breaking the silence. His voice was slightly raised in annoyance, “Get out.”

Techno winced at the straight-forwardness of the other, “Excuse me?”

“This room is mine now, you hear?,” The Slytherin glared, green eyes glinting dangerously, “I don’t want to see you again around this time, unless you want to get beaten up, that is.”

Oh, Techno blinked, finally realizing what he was dealing with. Rumors had it that his house was supposedly filled with snobs and rich kids, he hadn’t realized how true that was until now. 

He was about to tell the other Slytherin no. They look to be about the same year, and Techno was confident he could take on the other kid with no problem. But then, the image of his oldest brother appeared in his head, and Techno mentally shuddered. 

Oh right, Phil would have his head if he started a fight, especially so soon into the year. 

Instead, with a shrug, Techno gathered his stuff off the ground and began heading toward the exit. He was getting tired anyway, better not risk Phil’s wrath. Better wait until Wilbur messed something up first and the attention was taken off him. The right time would come, and Techno was nothing but patient.

Although the smug grin the other Slytherin boy spotted was _very_ tempting. 

\----------------------------

In the end, Techno resisted the urge to murder. Phil would have been proud.

It became routine after that. Techno would come to the dueling hall at his usual time to practice, then a few hours later, and the Slytherin student would arrive, and he left the hall. Punctual was the other boy too, showing up at about the same time every day. That was some dedication, Techno could admire that.

At some point, he even began using the other as his alarm clock. Sufficient to say his brothers were very surprised when he started consistently going to class on time. So at least some good thing came out of this. It was a small reward for having to deal with the student every morning. 

Sometimes the other would bring along friends, and overhearing their conversation, Techno figured out that the Slytherin’s name was Dream, and he apparently came from an influential pureblooded family. Techno wished he could say he was surprised, but Phil once told him that lying was bad. 

It was none of his business though, he was content staying out of Dream’s way, ignoring the throwaway insults and haughty behavior from the other. In the end, none of it matters much, so why should he care?

He didn’t, for a long time. 

Then, came the winter season of his second year, and Techno started caring very, very much.

\----------------------------

“Expelliarmus!”

Just a day like any other. It was snowing outside, and once again, Techno was practicing the Disarming Charm. After taking a rest to read up on it, he was feeling somewhat confident. But it seemed that, despite his best effort, his wand still vehemently refused to work.

As Techno looked down at it exasperatedly, the door of the duelling hall suddenly opened.

Oh, was it time already?

He looked up, sighing when he was met with the smug expression of Dream. The boy waved at the door, as if shooing him out, and Techno rolled his eyes. Still, he packed up his stuff and got ready to leave.

“So,” On his way out, Dream began, his hand fiddling with his wand. Uh oh, Techno knew that tone. The other Slytherin was trying to rile him up again.

Sighing, Techno continued on his way, trying to block out the other’s voice. How bad could it be? Dream was probably going to insult him again, or try to act high and mighty because “Oh, I’m rich and pureblooded and super influential.”

Nothing to worry about.

“-I looked up your family,” Techno stopped in his tracks, snapping his head toward the other boy, “Half-blood-”

“Shut up,” Techno spoke up, trying to keep his tone even and bored.

Nothing to worry about, Techno.

“Why bother practicing anyways? You’re not going to get stronger,” Dream cackled, “There’s a chance you could be a muggleborn as well! You and your brothers-”

And Techno saw red.

Dream had his back turned, seemingly unaware as Techno slowly raised his wand to point the tip at him.

It felt like he was in a daze as Techno breathed out, “ _Expelliarmus_ ,” Surely it wouldn’t work. Surely. He had been practicing for ages, and it had never worked before. And yet, here he watched as a red stream of light burst out of his wand. Almost in slow motion, Dream looked back, his eyes widening.

The spell hit him.

As the other’s wand went flying, Techno snapped out of his trance. Oh great, he had done it now. Phil was going to give him an absolute earful about picking fights. How much coins he’d need to bribe Wilbur into sneaking him out, he wondered.

But soon, it became clear that there were other problems to worry about, like that angry Dream slowly approaching him. 

“Oh, you’ll be sorry for that,” The other boy gritted out. Techno, attention still somewhere else, couldn’t quite process it as Dream barreled into him, sending them both onto the cold stone floor. 

At which point, he did regain his focus. But it was a bit too late. A fist came in contact with face, and in shock, Techno released the hold on his wand. It rolled away.

There was no time to regret that decision. As another punch came into his vision, Techno raised both of his arms up to push back against the attack. Dream, clearly not expecting any resistance, fell to the floor, and now Techno was on top of him.

A feral grin broke out on his face, as Techno regarded his opponent, finally remembering what this was all about, “Oh, somebody will be sorry. And it won’t be me.”

“You-” 

Techno interrupted whatever the other boy was saying with a punch in his face, “You’ll regret bringing my family into this, Dream!”

He heard a snarl from underneath him. Then, a hand came up to his face and dragged its nails into his skin. His eyes widened, and Techno instinctively grabbed at the hand and pulled it away.

“Oi-”

“How dare you-”

“ _Boys, what is happening here_?”

Their movement halted immediately when they heard the voice. From his spot, Techno looked up, cringing when he was met with the sight of Professor McGonagall. Her hands were crossed, fingers tapping impatiently as she looked at the two of them. 

“Yes?” She continued.

“Nothing, professor.” Dream spoke up first, “It’s nothing at all. We are just playing around”

He pinched Techno hard in the elbow.

“Yes, professor,” His voice fell back to a bored tone as Techno played along. “Nothing at all.”

He looked at Dream through half-lidded eyes, glaring at the other and receiving an equally sharp glare back.

Professor McGonagall examined them both, her stares already giving away what she thought of their lies. With a too-tired sigh, she declared, “Detention, both of you!”

\----------------------------

“Fucking detention?” Phil paced around the library table. Around him, students were looking up from their books to silently stare at the two of them, “Wilbur hadn’t even gotten into trouble yet this year, Techno. I thought you’re supposed to be the more responsible one.”

“I will neither confirm nor deny that.”

“Wha-” Phil groaned into his hands, “What _happened_ , Techno? Why did you get into a petty fight with this kid?”

“He was insulting you guys,” Techno looked away, “And no, I don’t regret it.”

“...Okay, fine. Just...don’t fucking do it again. Shitting hell bud.”

Techno remained quiet.

“ _Techno_ ,” Phil looked up from his hands.

“I won’t.”

“Good,” Phil shook his head before starting again, “For goodness’ sake...”

\----------------------------

Two weeks later, Techno saw him again.

He was practicing in the dueling hall late that day, early morning practices officially being banned by the teachers for the lack of supervision. Techno tried to not get angry by that. He had participated in the fight too, so it was partly his fault, like it or not.

Dream was still the one who started it though.

He sighed, reminding himself of Phil’s warning. Come on, stay out of trouble, Techno. You just gotta stay out of trouble.

Then, the door to the dueling hall opened, and all those thoughts were flung out of the window as in walked the very last person Techno wanted to see. 

He groaned into his hands when he spotted Dream staring back at him. Just seeing that face was near enough for Techno to break Phil’s trust in him forever. His hands balled into a tight fist.

Stay out of trouble, Techno. 

“What do you want?” He asked tiredly, looking up at Dream, “Still haven’t given up on annoying me?”

The other Slytherin remained silent, only staring back at him, eyes wide.

“What?” Techno looked around. Does Dream’s have lackeys now? Was this a signal? Was he finally getting sacrificed to the blood god? “Oi-”

“Uh…” Dream began at the same time, and they both cut off when they realized the other was talking.

There were a few more beats of awkward silence until, finally, Dream sighed. He held up his wand, and for a moment Techno thought he was going to attack. Instinctively, he moved into a defensive pose.

But Dream didn’t cast anything instead, he just opened his mouth, and simply asked.

“May I have a duel with you?” 

\----------------------------

He hesitated at first, fearing that this would be a trick. What could Dream have possibly done this time? Nothing was out of consideration. Plus, an hour of practice had left him sore and tired, it wouldn’t be fun to fight when his body was yelling at him to drop.

But after a moment of consideration, Techno simply shrugged. Why not? Even if he lost, or somehow got tricked, it couldn’t be worse than last time. Detention, oh, the embarrassment he faced after that. Their parents had even sent letters, asking if he was doing alright! The ridiculousness of it all.

“Sure,” he had said, not knowing then what it would eventually lead to.

Half an hour later, and they were _still_ fighting. Both of them were tired, Techno was sure of that. Yet, stubbornness continued to egg them to keep going. 

He shot a _Stupefy_ at Dream, narrowly dodging the other’s attack as he did. Dream flipped away, the spell flying overtop him. Spinning back, after he landed, he readied his wand.

But before he could cast anything, Techno was already midway through his next spell, “ _Expelliarmus_!” he yelled, nervousness bubbling in his stomach. Even after a week of training, he was still unsure of whether it would work or not. 

But the attack felt right for some reason. And right it came out, a crimson stream of light. Just like last time, it hit Dream in the temple, the red traveling up to his hand where it knocked his wand out of his grip.

Techno moved right away, charging at the other boy and sending a swift kick into his stomach. Dream fell back onto the floor, choking and coughing on air.

As he stared at his fallen opponent, Techno cringed. Had he gone too hard? All in all, this seemed to just be an innocent duel. There hadn’t been any trick or anything. It honestly felt like Dream just wanted a clean fight. Maybe a hard kick to the stomach wasn’t necessary.

Fortunately, before he could continue stressing himself over it, Dream sat up. Casually, he brushed the dust off his shoulder, a gesture that Techno thought was a bit pretentious. But hey, what else was new?

Then, he looked up at Techno, and his shoulders uncharacteristically drooped.

“You win,” He said.

“Yeah,” Techno sighed, putting his wand away, “Now, will you leave me alone?”

“Oh, uhm, if you want,” Dream rubbed the back of his neck, “I-I just wanted to come here and say...I’m sorry.”

“Huh?”

“For insulting you...a-and your family,” Dream shook his head, his eyes dropping to the ground, “That’s isn’t right, I realize that now. So, I’m sorry… and I’ll leave you alone after this, sure.”

“Uhuh?” Slowly, Techno backed away to the door. Dream leaving alone, that sounded good. If only he knew before that all it took was a good kick in the stomach.

The awkward silence grew like vines between the two of them. So, with a small wave, Techno opened the door and left.

Hopefully this would be the last time he’d have to worry about things like this.

\----------------------------

Dream did leave him alone after that...kind of. 

He would be there, lurking as Techno practiced his spell. Sometimes, Techno could see him sitting behind one of the pillars in the dueling hall, watching him intently. Annoyingly, it would pressure Techno into casting his spell better, but he guessed that would be a benefit in the long run.

But the stalking Dream would be a problem. So one late afternoon, Techno decided to confront him about it, once and for all.

“Oh, I was just observing your spells,” Dream said when he asked “To see how it works, the stuff. Especially Expelliarmus, you’ve used that on me twice already.”

“You...could just ask me to show it to you,” Techno raised an eyebrow, “You know, instead of lurking around all day like a stalker, “

“Well, you wanted me to leave you alone…”

“This is not what I mean.” Techno sighed, “Look, if you want to watch, just watch. I don’t care...well, maybe I do, but it would be better than seeing you hiding out of the corner of my eyes.”

“...Oh, sorry.”

“Whatever, just sit and observe like a normal person, noob.”

Dream furrowed his brow together, “What does that mean?”

“...Nevermind.”

And Dream did sit around and watch. For a whole week in fact. In that time, Techno tried to practice Expelliarmus as much as possible. He could benefit from getting used to this spell too, it would do them both good.

At the end of the week, Dream approached him, a bright grin on his face. For a moment, Techno feared that the old Dream was back to torment him again, until the other boy cheerily asked him for a duel.

They battled like before, going all out. It was almost like a dance, a kick there, another spell there. That was, until Techno felt himself getting lightheaded from exhaustion. It was time to end this, he decided then, and raised his wand.

“ _Expelliarmus_!’

A familiar feeling surged through his vein, and the red light shot out from the tip of his wand. It flew toward Dream, once again hitting him.

And the wand was knocked out of his hand the exact same way as before. Memory replayed itself in Techno’s head, and he smiled slightly before schooling his face into a more neutral expression.

But then, outstretched Dream’s hand toward his wand, his palm opened. For a moment Techno thought he would try and catch the wand, despite the fact that it was far out of his reach by then. 

“ _Accio..._ ” Widening his eyes, Techno watched in awe as Dream casted the spell. His eyes were wide opened, fully focused on his target. His hand moved in an obviously practiced motion, “Wand!”

The wand flew back toward Dream, and he caught it in one fell swoop. Spinning around, he aimed the wand toward Techno, and yelled, “ _Obscuro_.”

He could have dodged it, Techno was sure. The spell shot toward him, but there was still enough time for him to move out of the way. But, be it astonishment or just tiredness, his feet remained rooted in his spot. 

And the spell hit him. The next thing Techno knew, there was a blindfold over his eyes, and something that felt like the tip of a wand pressing against his neck.

With a sigh, he lifted the blindfold up, not surprised to see Dream’s smiling face right in front of him. 

“Wandless magic?” Techno mused quietly, “And for a fourth-year spell at that. Fine, I’ll give you this one.”

With a loud cheer, the other boy jumped away, his hands in the air.

“Let’s go! I win!”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Techno said. He straightened up, feeling his exhaustion fading away with the other’s energy, “Don’t expect to do that again next time.”

“Hm?” Dream looked back at him, “Next time?”

Techno stared at the boy, mentally cursing himself for the messed up. Was that too cheesy? Phil had been rubbing off on him again.

But then, slowly, Dream grinned, “You think I can’t beat you again?”

“In your dream, nerd,” Techno automatically replied, his own lip quirking up into a smirk. 

They both raised their wand. For a second, there was silence. Then…

“Again?”

“Again.” 

\----------------------------

“What are you thinking about?”

Techno blinked, “Heh?”

There was a chuckle beside him, coming from his rival, “Just asking, I’m usually one lost in my head, not you.”

They were both on the stone cold floor of the dueling hall, breathing heavily after a grueling sparring match. With his hand, Techno swiped away drops of sweat on his brow, “Reminiscing mostly. Back to our first few years.”

“Oh,” Dream mouthed, turning his head. Still, Techno could feel his blush, “Uh....”

“What, the great Dream, embarrassed?”

“Those weren’t the proudest years of my life, alright?”

“An understatement, I would say,” Propping his hand under his head, Techno lounged out, “Although, I am curious what made you do a 180 halfway through. Kinda ruins my tragic backstory with your character inconsistency.”

“Is that what it looks like to you?” Dream laughed, “That I just change overnight?”

“....Do you want me to lie-”

Dream gave him a deadpan look, before his face broke into a small smile, “Don’t worry, I get it. To tell you the truth, it was an abrupt change for me too.”

“Really. Did you wake up one day and decide that maybe blood status doesn't matter anymore?”

“It’s never _about_ blood relation,” Dream pouted, “I just thought that, if you’re pureblood and are raised surrounded by magic, then you technically should be better than, say, half-blood or muggleborn, at magic. Stronger than them perhaps.”

“You thought I was _weaker_ than you? Bruh…”

“Well, I realize that it’s wrong now, alright?” Dream rolled his eyes, “You beat me up in that duel I asked for, and that kind of proves it, I guess. And also, after that I went to duel some of the pureblooded kids in our year and they’re all pretty weak, way weaker than you, so…”

“So...that you wake up call?”

“...No, I wouldn’t say that,” Dream hummed, “If I remember correctly, it’s after our first fight, when we got detentions, I think Bad slapped me in the face, then call me a dumb muffin, when I told him about what happened, and that makes me begin questioning things....”

“Bad?” Techno gave him a bewildered glance, “Your friend, Bad? The one who bakes muffins? Are we talking about the same person here?”

“Oh trust me, he can be scary when he wants to be,” Dream gave a sheepish smile, “Anyways, it took a while longer for me to see that I shouldn’t be judging people on how strong they are at magic. That’s later down the line. It’s hard to rethink everything my parents had taught, but well, I guess it’s better that I have.”

Techno glanced at him, “And now you’re here.”

“And now I’m here, getting beat up by you still. So I guess _some_ things haven't changed,” Dream huffed, “But just you wait, I’ll win the next match for sure!”

Techno rolled his eyes, and yet he couldn’t help but smiled a little, “Bring it on, nerd.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, with this chapter, I'm officially going on hiatus. Idk, just got bored of this I guess. It just doesn't feel like self-indulgent anymore. Might reflect in the quality of this chapter too, which suck compare to the others in my opinion. Also I'm getting back into DreamSMP which mean I'm too busy catching up on stream to write lol, so there's that.
> 
> But anyways, here's to the flashback chapter I guess. For now, imma head out. Maybe I'll come back, maybe not, depends on how I feel. Only appreciation to all of y'all throughout the months I write this :)


End file.
